Brother and Sister
by pineylife
Summary: Having a younger sister can be a pain. Sometimes you just want to scream. Other times your thankful for having one person you can alway rely on. DL -Now Complete-
1. July 17

**Hey guys! Welcome to my new story. Hope you enjoy. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Except Cara, this laptop and a few bucks. **

**I do not own anything. **

* * *

Diary Entry

Date: July 17, 2008

Mood: Pissy as ever… I blame PMS.

It's hot, it's muggy, and I'm supposed to be used to this shit; being a native New Yorker. Staten Island to be exact. And why am I telling you this? I already know who I am and how old I am, and what I look like (at least I hope I know what I look like), and I know I have two brothers and a great mom and pop. Okay, you know what? I really need to get my brain checked out just to make sure I didn't get dropped on my head when I was a baby like pop tells me. He's kidding…

At least I hope he's kidding.

Today I had a soccer game for the club team I play for. Get this, my brother promised he'd be there and he even told me he made a switch with Hawkes so he could go to my game and the little jerk didn't show! To be honest, I was angrier at him than I was at the girl who gave a concussion to our goal keeper leading me to have to play for the final 10 minutes of the game. Yippy. Can you hear the sarcasm? Please tell me you can.

Have you ever felt like that you can be family with someone, but at the same time understand nothing that goes on in their brain and don't understand how you can share the same genetic make up as them? Welcome to my life.

I have a brother who landed himself in the hospital about three years ago because he was going to protect my other brother and ended up getting beat up by the Tanglewood Boys. He's still in a coma and right now, things aren't look totally… great. He has brain activity, but it's not going anywhere. Lucky for us, because of that little piece of information, it refrains us from having to make a decision about whether or not to take him off life support. One less stress.

I have another older brother; this one though thankfully did not end up in the hospital. But it is good to carry a first aid kit just in case. Taken hostage, shot an undercover cop, give me a scenario and my brother probably was involved in that scenario in some wacked up way. He even interrogated the Suicide Girls. One brave soul if you tell me. My brother is a cop. CSI to be exact. You know… the people who go to crime scenes and collect evidence and help put the killer behind bars because SCIENCE RULES!... okay… I admit, I'm a little of a science geek, but I like computers a whole hell of a lot better.

Anyway… my CSI cop brother is one heck of a person. He fights crime and at the same time manages to play second father to me sometimes. He's got this AMAZING girlfriend who is good for him. I know, I see them together sometimes and think, 'Oh my god get me out of here before I throw myself out a window', but when I look at his face when he talks about her, I know it's love. And it sounds stupid right? Danny Messer in love? Crazy I know, but it's possible! Relationships can be more than sex!

Alright, I better go now, my radio has decided to shut itself… oh, nevermind, I pulled the plug somehow… anyway. I'm signing off…

_CSI:NYCSI:NYCSI:NY_

"You promised Dan…"

"Cara, I'm sorry! Something came up at work and Mac needed me at a crime scene. There wasn't anything I could do about it," Danny Messer said as he sat in his office, his hand rubbing his forehead as he received hell from his baby sister.

"It was a stinkin, hour game. You could have at least called me, which may I remind you, you did not bother to pick up the fricken phone and send me a text," Cara growled into the phone.

Danny tapped his fingers on the desk and sat up straighter in his chair, "You know what? I'll come out for dinner this Saturday, to make it up to you."

There was a pause on the other side of the phone before Cara spoke up, "Have my ears deceived me? Is my brother going to come over for dinner?"

"And I'll bring Lindsay."

Danny heard the phone drop then over the phone a yell, "HELL HAS FROZEN OVER!"

Danny had to stuff his hand in his mouth to keep from laughing because at that moment, Mac Taylor walked past Danny's office and did a double take at the loud yell coming from his young CSI's phone.

"Hold on a second, let me tell mom," Cara told her brother and before Danny could say anything he heard more yelling and the movement on the other line.

"Mom, mom, mom. Danny's going to bring Lindsay over for dinner this Saturday. Please tell me we're free," Danny heard Cara begging their mother.

He heard the muffle voice that had to be his mother's voice before Cara's replaced it, "She said yes. Be here at 2 o'clock for an early dinner. And don't back out on us," and the phone went dead. Danny gave it a look before hanging it up and leaning back in his chair. Mac was still standing at the door to Danny's office, giving him a strange look. Danny returned the look than realization hit him.

"That was my sister," Danny said pointing to the phone.

Mac held his hands up and walked away from the office mumbling, "I don't even want to know."

Danny smiled and grabbed a pen and a post it note from his desk drawer and quickly scribbled something down. Standing up, he stuck the post it to the computer that sat opposite of his and picked up his bag. He was off the clock when he had called Cara and now planned to get home to take a shower and get some food in his system. And maybe some beer, too. He made his way to the elevators and got home in record time.

Danny quickly took a shower, grabbed something small to eat and a beer to wash it down and decided to watch some Sport Center seeing that he had missed all the baseball games because of work. The Mets won, thank God, the Yankees… we'll get back to them later, Boston… lost! And the Mariners were struggling because they were having issues with their batting staff. Again.

Danny must have fallen asleep while watching the show because he didn't hear the door open than close again and he didn't feel the beer bottle being pried from his hands. His head fell down to his chest and he jumped up waking up. He looked over at the person who took his beer bottle from his hand.

"Hey,"

"Hey, how did you sleep?" Lindsay asked setting the bottle down and sat on the arm of the chair.

"Fine, fine. When did you get home?" Danny asked sitting up straighter and wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her on his lap.

"5 minutes ago. Found you asleep in front of the TV. No surprise though…" Lindsay said smiling at Danny's face.

"That's a little harsh…"

"No it's not, it's true. My dad and brothers do it all the time," Lindsay said nuzzling Danny's neck.

Danny buried his face in her hair and smiled against it, "You want to come to my parent's house for dinner this Saturday?"

Lindsay looked up at Danny and smiled, "I would love too,"

"Good, because I owe Cara big time," Danny said.

Lindsay chuckled, "What did you do?"

Danny shrugged, "I missed her soccer game."

"That's a big deal, Messer," Lindsay told him.

"We were called to that crime scene remember?"

"Yes I remember and I also remember that you never reached for that phone of yours," Lindsay said tapping his head lightly. Danny poked her nose and she scrunched up her nose.

"I already got the lecture from Cara, you don't need to tell me," Danny said.

Lindsay stood up and stretched, "I'm hungry and I've barely had lunch. Let's get something to eat," she said rubbing her hands together.

Danny stood up and nodded, "I'll make pasta?"

"Sounds good to me,"

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**Please review! I hope you enjoy.**


	2. July 19

**Here's chapter 2, the dinner. Thanks to all who reviewed and put me on your alerts lists. That means a lot to me.**

**Oh yeah, someone pointed out that it's romance, not romantic. hehe.. Thanks HG, I've been out of school WAY to long. **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing... lie, I own shorts, this laptop and a few bucks.**

**All mistakes are mine. **

* * *

Diary Entry 

July 19, 2008

Mood: Excited OMG!!

I'm meeting Lindsay today; you do **NOT** understand how excited I am to meet this 'Montana'. All I heard was great things about her and now I get to see how great she is. I couldn't sleep last night, which sounds really, really stupid, but I am excited! Pop thinks I'm crazy, really. I'm not, you can trust me.

Anyway, I was told I had to finish up all my homework, which I did. I hate homework, all of it. And before you guys think I am going crazy, my mother likes me to practice my _French _over the summer because I am so **bad** at it. That doesn't make any sense. I am fluent in Italian and English, and studies have shown that people who are bilingual pick up other languages easier than people who only know one language. I like to call my practicing over the summer homework. Ma calls it helping me get into collage. Yippy.

There's the doorbell. Danny's here. YAY!

_CSI:NYCSI:NYCSI:NY_

Danny and Lindsay pulled up to the drive way of the Staten Island home 10 minutes early. Lindsay sat in the passenger seat, looking nervous. Danny glanced over at Lindsay and gave a small smile.

"You alright, Montana?" Danny asked.

Lindsay nodded, "Just a little nervous, that's all."

"Don't be nervous, my parents don't bite. I would watch Cara though…"

Lindsay shot him a look and Danny gave his trademark smile, "Don't worry, they'll love you," Danny said taking her hand and squeezing it before he opened the door. Lindsay nodded and opened the door and got out of the car. Danny took her hand and led her up to the door. He gave her a reassuring smile and reached for the doorbell.

The door opened to an older woman with a large smile on her face. She was short and graying dark blond hair.

"Danny! Oh it's so good to see you again!" the woman said opening the door wider and reached up to give Danny a hug.

"Hi mom," Danny said giving his mom a hug.

Danny's mom looked over his shoulder and smiled, "You must be Lindsay. It's so good to finally meet you," his mom said almost pushing Danny aside to give Lindsay a hug.

"Hello Mrs. Messer," Lindsay said returning the hug Mrs. Messer was giving her.

"Oh sweetie, you don't have to Mrs. Messer me. Call me Mariya, please," Mariya Messer said leading the two inside the house. "Nicolas, Cara! Danny and Lindsay are here!" she called into the house that seemed empty.

The first person to show their face was an older man peeking into the entrance area from the living room. He smiled, "Daniel, it's so good for you to show your face again," he made his way to his son and pulled him into a hug.

"Hey pop," Danny said.

Danny's father looked at Lindsay, "Hello, you must be Lindsay. We've heard so much about you," he said taking Lindsay hand in a light shake.

"It's nice to meet you too, Mr. Messer," Lindsay said with a smile.

"Please, it's Nicolas," Nicolas said.

Lindsay nodded and Mariya bustled Lindsay and Danny into living room.

"I don't know what your sister is up too… she locked herself in her room, again," Mariya mumbled to herself hurrying out of the living room leaving Lindsay with the two Messer men. Lindsay looked at Nicolas and then at Danny. She could see where Danny got his eyes and smile. Danny and Nicolas almost had identical eyes and smiles.

There was a loud crash from the upstairs which Danny and Nicolas took no notice too. Lindsay gave a quick glance at Danny who rolled his eyes.

"It's not unusual to hear loud noises coming from her room. It's so messy up there mom won't go in it until she cleans it, but she won't," Danny explained to Lindsay.

Lindsay held back a laugh and Nicolas got comfortable in his chair, "So Lindsay, where are you from?" he asked.

"I'm from Montana," Lindsay said.

"Where exactly?" Nicolas asked.

"Pop, you don't know anything about Montana," Danny said.

"Cara showed me how to use Google Earth. I've been having fun looking at the different maps of areas," Nicolas said looking at Danny.

Lindsay chuckled, "I'm from Bozeman."

"I'll keep that in mind, thank you," Nicolas said, "You work with Danny?"

Lindsay nodded, "Yes, I do,"

"Hmm… I'm guessing you were a CSI in Montana too, am I right?" Nicolas asked.

"Yes I was," Lindsay said with a small smile.

"Danny!" a young girl came up behind Danny and hugged him around his neck.

"Hey kiddo," Danny said reaching up to his neck in hopes of Cara not breaking it.

"Hi Danny, how's it goin'?" Cara asked letting go of his neck and sitting down on the arm of the couch.

"It's fine. Oh, this is Lindsay. Cara, Lindsay, Lindsay… Cara," Danny said introducing the two.

"Hey Cara," Lindsay said.

"Hi Lindsay, it's so good to finally meet you…"

"Cara Messer, get your butt in here this second!" Mariya's voice floated into the living room.

"Sorry to leave you guys, but the madre calls me," Cara said standing up and slowly made her way to the kitchen.

"Car, what did you do this time?" Nicolas asked his daughter. She turned to him and shrugged looking completely innocent and disappeared into the kitchen.

"Troublemaker," Nicolas grumbled settling back in his chair.

The three made conversation until Mariya walked back into the living room announcing dinner was ready. Nicolas led them into the small dinning room where Cara was putting out glasses and napkins. Nicolas placed a hand on Cara's shoulder and smiled.

"So, what did you do?"

Cara sighed, "I forgot to empty the dishwasher," she grumbled and Danny shook his head as he pulled a chair out for Lindsay.

"That's worse than breaking one of the 10 commandments," Danny said mentioning to Lindsay to sit down.

"Tell me about it," Cara said pulling out her chair and plopping down.

"Cara!"

"Yeah mom?"

"Did you grab the butter?"

Cara groaned and slowly stood up and disappeared into the kitchen returning seconds later with the butter tray in hand. She set it in font of her father and slid into her seat once more. Mariya walked out with a couple plates in hand and set them on the table and sat down in her chair.

"Let's say grace," Nicolas said quietly and the table bowed their heads.

"Lord, thank you for the food in front of us today. Please watch over Louie and help him out of a coma. Amen," Nicolas said.

"Amen," came the rest of the family and Cara eagerly rubbed her hands together, "Lets eat!"

Food was passed around and Cara immediately reached for the mashed potatoes. After the food was distributed, the group was quiet as they began to eat. Cara was the first to speak.

"So… Lindsay. How long have you been in New York City?" Cara asked poking her fork at her mash potatoes.

"Three years now," Lindsay answered.

"You liking the city?"

"I love the city," Lindsay said glancing over at Danny. Cara looked at Lindsay and Danny before stuffing a mouthful of potatoes into her mouth. Mariya threw a look at Cara and she shrugged while trying to use her water to wash down the potatoes.

"I hear you play soccer," Lindsay said.

Cara shrugged and swallowed the mashed potatoes, "Yeah, high school and a club team," she explained.

"She's the best on both team," Nicolas said. Cara rolled her eyes.

"No I'm not, we just don't have enough forwards and Mackenzie is definitely not going to play forward," Cara said still picking at her potatoes.

"Cara,"

"Yes, ma," Cara said glancing at her mother.

Mariya waved her fork over Cara's plate, "Green," she stated.

Cara rolled her eyes and reached for the broccoli that sat next to her, "Did your mom make you eat vegetables?" she asked Lindsay.

Lindsay nodded with a small smile on her face, "Of course she did,"

"Remember she did with me too, you don't suffer alone," Danny said reaching for the broccoli before his mother could say anything to him. He gave his trademark smile to his mother who rolled her eyes and gave him her famous eye, which usually meant she was watching him.

Cara snickered into her food, and Lindsay seemed to enjoy watching the family interaction.

"How old are you, Cara?" Lindsay asked.

"16, I'm going to be a junior this school year," Cara answered flicking a piece of broccoli at Danny receiving 'the eye' from her mother.

An hour later, Mariya and Cara where cleaning up the table and Cara was getting the coffee and tea ready. As Cara reached for Lindsay's plate she stood up, "I can help you," Lindsay said.

"No, you're a guest and my mom taught me well, no guest will help with dishes. I got it, no problem," Cara said smiling slightly and taking the plate away.

The group retired to the living room where they talked for awhile about sports, life and Cara's favorite subject, Cara's personal life. Cara smiled at the group and kindly dismissed herself from the group leaving them to talk about more adult topics and not having to deal with a part adult, part child Cara.

Danny glanced at his watch and noticed that they had been talking for a good 2 hours and Lindsay and him had at least an hour drive back into Manhattan. With both of them working the next day, they needed to get back home.

"Hey guys, we've got to go," Danny said standing up and pointing to the clock.

Mariya looked up at Danny and sighed, "You have to work tomorrow don't you?" she asked.

"Duty calls, Ma," he said standing up and stretching, "I'm going to find the munchkin, and no pictures, ma," Danny said leaving the room.

Mariya waited a couple of seconds before she pulled out a small stack of pictures, "Don't tell him," she mumbled as she handed them to Lindsay and went over to sit down next to her.

Danny first looked in the kitchen and then headed up to Cara's room. He knocked on the door and there was a soft, "Come in."

He opened the door and the room actually looked halfway decent. He smiled up at Cara, who was sitting on the window still a mug in her hand.

"Looks like you cleaned the place," Danny said looking around the room.

"I was cleaning my room instead of practicing French. Personally, cleaning is a whole lot better than practicing my pronunciation," Cara said waving her hand around.

"French? I thought you wanted to take German?" Danny asked sitting on the edge of her bed.

Cara shrugged, "German is not a romantic language unlike French and Italian. Thought it would be easier to learn if I took another _romance _language,"

"You were wrong, weren't you?"

"Of course I was wrong! Aren't I _always_ wrong?" Cara asked taking another sip out of her mug as Danny held back a chuckle.

"Me and Lindsay are going home,"

"Hey look, you finally decided to tell me something," Cara said standing up.

"Yeah, I better get downstairs otherwise ma's going to pull out the…"

Cara was out of her room before Danny could finish his sentence. He followed her out of the room and when he got downstairs, Cara was sitting next to Lindsay and both laughing at something.

Danny looked at her father who shrugged, "I had nothing to do with it," he admitted.

"Oh yes you did, you could of at least destroyed those pictures," Danny said glaring at his mother.

"Danny, you have to admit, these pictures are cute," Lindsay said holding up a picture of Danny after a baseball game when he was 9.

"That's what you think," Danny grumbled. Lindsay thanked Mariya for letting her see the pictures and for dinner and Danny and Lindsay headed out to the car. Cara sat out on the porch waving goodbye to them as they drove away. Nicolas came outside and sat next to his daughter.

"So, what do you think?" Cara asked looking at her father.

"What do you mean?"

"What do you think about Lindsay?" Cara asked throwing a rock into the small front lawn.

"I like her. I think she's good for Danny. What about you?"

"She's amazing and Danny is head over heels in love with her," Cara stated.

They sat in silence for a few minutes before Nicolas stood up and gently pulled Cara up with him.

"Let's get inside before your mother begins to worry,"

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**Review if you enjoyed! **


	3. July 21

**Thanks for all the reviews that I've recieved. You all rock! Oh yeah, this is rated T for language. I keep meaning to tell you that but I've been updating at midnight so, brain wasn't on. **

**Disclaimer: Own nothing except Cara and a Darth Vader shirt. **

**All mistakes belong to me :)**

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Diary Entry

July 21, 2008

Mood: Tired, that's what you get for sneaking out

Alright, yesterday my friends came up with the brilliant idea of sneaking out and heading into Manhattan for the night. Being young and naïve, I said yes and I did not get home till 5 in the morning. And my mom thought it would be a great idea to wake up at 7 to do some shopping! Wonderful… I've been operating on 2 hours of sleep all day and that is no fun. Trust me.

Best part about sneaking out; I almost got caught by my brother. Who would have thought that he would be out at a crime scene in the same area that I wanted to be? I think he saw me, but thankfully he didn't chase after me. I would have had to explain to him and then live through hell at home.

My ma is so overprotective of me. Okay, she lets me do some normal stuff, but half the time she's worried I'll get roped into doing some dumb Tanglewood Boys business. I guess I should give her a break though, she's already lost one kid to Tanglewood, and I've lost a brother. I can see a reason for her insanity even though half the time I want to say that her insanity is her just getting older. None of those excuses work anymore do they?

Well, I did get to have a good time with friends. There are a bunch of us who managed to stay away from the Tanglewood Boys and we always spend time with one another. Including sneaking out. That's pretty much how far we'll go in the trouble making business. None of us are interested on getting on the wrong side of the law, or the wrong side of Detective Flack, who happens to be Danny's best friend and also the same detective who interrogated my friend, Andrew, for shop lifting. I guess you can say he was a little pissy when he found out that he was working robbery and not his normal homicide job. Life sucks, sorry buddy.

Anyway, I need sleep, like now. If I don't get any I'll turn into a raging bitch than mom will definitely figure out I snuck out. I hate being caught, it sucks.

_CSI:NYCSI:NYCSI:NY_

"I swear it was here. Who else would be walking around at 2 in the morning with a bunch of friends trying to doge the cops?" Danny asked as he looked up from the t-shirt he was processing.

Lindsay rolled her eyes, "I don't know, Danny, maybe half of the teenage population. You're taking this to the extreme. She probably was catching up on sleep," Lindsay said grabbing results that the GCMS was spitting out and glancing at it, "Damn it, the fiber we found on our vic is cotton and is used in everything from clothes to carpets," she explained looking up at Danny.

"So that doesn't narrow down our search," Danny said putting the black light he was using down on the table and pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose.

"Has Adam finished going through our vic's purse?" Lindsay asked.

"Nope, he's not even close. Personally, I think he's looking for some tips," Danny said.

"I will ignore that comment," Adam said walking into layout and gently placing the purse on the table.

"What did you get, Adam?" Lindsay asked walking over and stood next to Adam.

"Well, I found a wallet. It had no cash, but several credit cards. I also found a cell phone and an Ipod," Adam said waving his hand around the purse.

"Adam," Danny warned and Adam shook his head.

"Sorry. Anyway, I was going through our vics purse… and I found a note, telling her to go to 5th and Madison," Adam said.

"That's were our crime scene was," Lindsay said looking at Danny.

"Where's the note?" Danny asked.

"Running through the handwriting analysis right now and being compared to our database," Adam said with a small smirk on his face.

"You are good, Adam," Lindsay stood up and looked at the purse.

"Want me to run anything else?" Adam asked.

"Yeah, Adam, could you run this?" Danny said looking up from the t-shirt and handed Adam an evidence bag.

"Will do," Adam said and he left layout.

"So our vic knew our killer," Lindsay stated placing a hand on her hip, her mind deep in thought.

Danny put the t-shirt back into an evidence bag before sitting down on a stool. As he reached for the box of evidence, he felt his phone vibrate against his leg. He fished it out of his pocket and didn't bother looking at the caller ID as he hit the send button and held the phone up to his ear.

"Hello,"

"Danny, I need an excuse."

"What?" Danny looked at the caller ID and groaned, "What did you do this time?"

"Snuck out last night and I am now running on a total of 3.5 hours of sleep," Cara explained.

"Ahh… you got me on that one. Wait… I saw you last night," Danny grumbled.

"I did too! Oh, what a coincidence, we both ended up in the same area at the same time!" Cara exclaimed.

Danny shook his head, "Did you guys see anything suspicious around that area?"

"What makes you think we were there a half hour before you?" Cara asked.

"Well, because the 911 operator says that a younger kid called it in, say… maybe your age," Danny said and Cara groaned on the other line.

"Okay, okay, we found the body, Jessica called it in against our wishes and then we hid until you guys showed up, than we ran," Cara said, "What are you going to do now? Arrest us or somethin'?"

"Well, it would be nice if we could get you in to eliminate prints," Danny said.

"Look, I saw nothing. We did hear some yelling, like an argument and that's why we headed over there. We thought it was a bunch of drunk guys fighting. When we got there, the woman was dead and we decided to get out because if the cops caught us there, we knew we would be arrested and then charged for something loony," Cara argued to Danny as she sat down on the toilet seat.

There was a knock on the bathroom door, "Cara! What are you doing in there?!"

"Nothing, mom. I'll be out in a second!" Cara called back before turning her attention back to the phone.

"Where are you?"

"The bathroom,"

"Smooth. Bathroom phone calls. I thought you only did that for your boyfriends," Danny said.

"Shut up you twit," Cara retorted.

Danny sighed, "Anything else?"

"You never gave me an excuse!" Cara grumbled.

"Okay… ahh… you stayed up reading," Danny said quickly.

"I don't read," Cara told him.

"Whatever, Cara, I need to go," Danny said before he hung up on her. Lindsay was watching him, obliviously amused.

"What?"

"You're so cute when go older brother," Lindsay said with a huge smile on her face.

Danny gave her a look, "It's not funny, I hate it when she asks me for stories when she sneaks out,"

"Well, why don't you tell your mother she sneaks out," Lindsay suggested.

"That's mean," Danny admitted as Lindsay giggled and hurried out of layout to find Adam.

_CSI:NYCSI:NYCSI:NY_

Cara stuffed her phone into her pocket and opened up the bathroom door to see her mother standing in front of her, her hands on her hips not looking too happy.

"Cara Messer, what in names were you doing in the bathroom?" Mariya asked her daughter.

Cara shrugged, "Nature's call?" she said with a questionable look on her face.

Mariya rolled her eyes and beckoned Cara to follow her. Cara stuffed her hands in her pockets and followed her mother down to the kitchen where her father was sitting at the small table in the middle of the kitchen, writing something down on a piece of paper.

"Your father and I are going out," Mariya told her daughter. Cara gave her a look.

"So…?"

"So, I don't want you leaving. I'll be calling the home phone and if you don't answer, be prepared," Mariya told Cara as she grabbed her small purse and a coat.

"Where are you going?" Cara asked leaning against the counter near the sink.

"Your father needs a couple of things at the store and I want to pick up some food for dinner," Mariya said.

"But we went grocery shopping this morning!" Cara said completely confused at what her mother was telling her.

"I know we did, but I forgot to pick up a few things,"

Cara rolled her eyes, "Alright, alright. I'll stay in the house, by the phone and wait for you guys to come home and make sure I don't cause any trouble," she chatted off.

Nicolas looked up from his paper and nodded at his daughter, "Right, you are not allowed to move from that spot,"

"Funny, pop," Cara retorted.

10 minutes later, Cara was watching her parents leave through the front door as she sat on the couch, her feet up on the coffee table. After her parents left, she sat in the silence of her house and closed her eyes trying to catch up on some sleep that she had lost for sneaking out.

Several minutes later, the phone to the house rang and Cara grabbed it after the first ring. Assuming it was her mother, she sighed into the phone and said, "See mom, I didn't sneak out,"

"I'm sorry, but do I have the wrong number, this is Doctor Henderson,"

Cara hit her forehead with the palm of her hand, "Oh right, sorry doctor, but my mom threatened to ground me if I didn't answer the phone," she explained.

"Hmm… that's interesting. Speaking of which, is your mother or father home?" the doctor asked.

Cara shook her head, "No, they just left about five minutes ago,"

"Okay, could you tell them to call me back, it's about Louie,"

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**Review please! **


	4. August 2

**Thanks to all who have reviewed and added me to their story alerts. Makes me know that you guys enjoy it and are willing to read it. Thanks! Have a happy weekend!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Except a mug my teacher got me and some converse. **

**All mistakes belong to me. **

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Diary Entry

Date: August 2, 2008

Mood: Numb, confused

It's been almost two weeks since Doctor Henderson called. He's Louie's doc and he called with not so good new. I guess he had a stroke, which has been waiting for awhile to emerge. I was scared beyond belief when the doctor called and all he said was, "It's about Louie." My major fear is that he's never going to wake up, and I guess I'm right. He's not going to wake up; I'm never going to see my older brother, again. At least the one I remember before Sassone beat the crap out of him.

I don't know who to blame, seriously. Do I blame Sassone? Or do I blame Louie? Or even Danny? But Danny never asked for this to happen. He did not want Louie running to his side and landing his butt in the hospital. I mainly blame Sassone, thank god his ass is in Rickers. If he was walking the streets I'd be in Rickers by now.

We're going to the hospital today, and I guess mom and pop are going to make a decision on what to do. After the stroke, Louie's brain activity has gone down and the chance of him waking up has gone down the drain. I'm depressed, I'm scared. I don't want to go see Louie. I'm going to break down and I **HATE** breaking down in front of people and showing them I'm weak. I'm not weak.

At least I hope I'm not.

_CSI:NYCSI:NYCSI:NY_

Danny looked up as he saw his mother and father walk into the waiting room of Angel of Mercy Hospital with Cara trailing far behind them. Danny stood up and watched as his parents walked toward the front desk and Cara stood close to Danny, her arms crossed, her jaw set in one place. Danny placed a hand on her shoulder.

"How are you?"

"Fantastic," Cara answered.

Several minutes later, the two siblings were following their parents down the darken halls of the hospital. Danny took in the familiar surroundings, not liking the color of the paint that was on the walls. It always reminded him of death. And so did the smell. Sure, he worked with the dead all the time, but that was different.

Hospitals were a different species.

The nurse led them to Louie's room. Mariya and Nicolas went in and Danny followed, but turned around to see that Cara had stopped and was shaking her head.

"I'm not going in," she whispered.

Danny sighed, "Cara, come on,"

She continued to shake her head, "I'm not going too, I don't want too," her voice was beginning to crack a little as she spoke.

Danny walked over to her and placed his hands on her shoulders, "It's going to be okay, alright. Just go in and if it gets to be too much, leave," Danny explained to his little sister. Cara nodded slowly and grabbed the back of Danny's jacket as he walked into the hospital room. Nicolas was sitting in one of the plastic chairs they provided in the rooms and watching Louie. Mariya was holding Louie's motionless hand, muttering words in Italian.

To Danny, the whole scene in front of him seemed surreal, as if it wasn't from his life. It wasn't from his life.

It shouldn't be from his life.

Cara stood near the door, ready to make a quick escape when she could. She took a deep breath to keep her tears back, her heart telling her that this was the last time she was going to see her brother, alive. She didn't remember how she got there, but somehow she was standing next to Louie's bed, his cool hand in hers. A flood of memories came back to her as she remember the good, the bad, and the, at times, ugly parts of their relationship. There was a light knock on the door and the Messer's looked up to see Doctor Henderson cautiously making his way into the hospital room.

"Good afternoon, I'm so sorry you had to be here for this," the doctor said as he made his way near were Mariya was sitting and he crossed his arms.

"What's the diagnosis?" Nicolas asked giving Doctor Henderson a sideways glance.

The doctor liked his lips and slowly shook his head, "We did an CT scan on him and it showed almost no brain activity. Louie's stroke pretty much wiped out the progress he made," he explained.

"Is there anything you can do?" Cara asked looking up from Louie and looking the doctor square in the eyes.

Doctor Henderson broke eye contact with Cara and slowly shook his head, "No," he said simply.

Cara set her jaw and looked down at her oldest brother and didn't say another word.

There was a long standing silence in the room before Mariya spoke up.

"Are we going to end it?" she asked.

Cara looked at her mother in surprise and then looked at her dad. They had obliviously talked about this before they had come to the hospital because Nicolas gave a little nod. Cara couldn't take it. She turned on her heel and left the room heading to the outside of the hospital to get some much need fresh air. The family watched as Cara left and Nicolas looked at Danny. Danny quickly slipped out of the room to follow Cara. He found her sitting in a small area of trees and flowers, away from the busyness of the hospital and the pain and death. He sat down next to her and they sat in the muted quietness.

"I never thought this day would come, ya know?" Cara said resting her head against the wall. Danny nodded.

"I've been thinking about it for awhile. Trying to decide what my reactions would be if this day did come. I imagined myself relaxed, knowing this was going to happen. Just a little sad, but not in complete tears. But no! Not at all as I imagined it," Cara said.

Danny didn't answer his sister immediately. Glancing at his sister, he took her smaller hand in his, "Truth be told, I was preparing myself for the day. But, you know what I've learned? Nothing can prepare you for the worse, no matter how much you prepare for it or how little you prepare for it. Remember Ruben? I wasn't prepared for that, I never thought a 10 year old could lose his life because someone shot at a robber and missed. I prepared myself for Louie, but when pop called me and told me the news, it felt as if someone ripped my heart out of my chest for the second time," Danny said.

"So he did call you," Cara mumbled.

Danny nodded. Cara rolled her eyes and buried her face in hands.

"It's for the best, and you know that," Danny said and Cara nodded. He stood up and offered a hand to Cara, who took it and pulled herself up. They made their way back to the hospital room where their parents were patiently waiting for them. Cara stood in the back of the room while Danny stood next to his to his father. The doctor gave Nicolas a look and Nicolas nodded. Doctor Henderson reached over and turned off the ventilator.

The only sound in the room was the beep of the flat line.

* * *

**Please review!  
**


	5. August 3

**Thanks to the two people who reviewed, CaRiNeSs and Rejo. That means a lot guys, thanks. To you others who are lurkers, speak your mind. Like? Hate? I would love to know. Just no flamers... I put those out with a GIANT hose.  
**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, except a script for drama, sweats, and Cara**

**All mistakes belong to me. **

* * *

Diary Entry

Date: August 3, 2008

Mood: What's mood?

I'm writing on a scrap piece of paper for I am staying at Danny's apartment for awhile. Louie died yesterday afternoon, of our own accord. What was the point though of keeping him alive when he wasn't going to wake up and live his life again? What's better? Quality or quantity? Why do you want quantity when you aren't going to be awake for half of it?

Anyway, I'm lying on Danny's bed, listening to Danny and Lindsay's conversation and writing on a post it note I found underneath his bed and a purple pen. I didn't even know Danny owned a purple pen. What man in his right mind owns a purple pen? Makes no sense to me. I can't go home, not just yet. Surprisingly mom didn't change Louie's room when he left. She didn't change Danny's either. I think she wanted to have the memories of them still at home. Simpler times. Before everything was screwed up.

To be honest, I don't remember anything that happened last night. I don't know how I got to Danny's apartment, or how I even got to bed…

_CSI__:NYCSI:NYCSI:NY_

_Night before…_

Cara stood outside the hospital room, her hands stuck in her pockets, her eyes glued to the ground. She didn't look up when she heard the cry of babies off in the far off corner, nor did she hear the questions of the passing nurses.

She heard nothing.

But she did feel. Or did she? She couldn't decide. Was it supposed to feel like that she had no heart, that it was ripped out of her chest? Her feelings were jumbled into one giant mesh of unknown emotions and sicknesses. This wasn't right, this shouldn't be happening.

Danny walked out of the hospital room. He had come to the conclusion to remain strong for Cara, but once he could, he would release his own emotions. Right now though wasn't the right time for him to do so. Wrapping an arm around Cara's shoulders, he felt her hide her face in his shoulder and her own shoulders shake. Danny pulled her into a hug. Neither moved for quiet sometime, just stood in the hallway as both tried to make sense of what just happened.

Minutes later, the last person Danny ever expected to be walking down the hallway was Don Flack. Looking up, Flack gave him a confused look and stepped off to the side next to Danny. He didn't say anything at first, just looked at Cara, then to Danny.

"This is the last place I'd expect to see you," Flack said crossing his arms and leaning against the wall.

"I would say the same thing to you," Danny answered.

"Ah… witness who just woke up. I just finished an interview. Why are you here and…?" he paused and glanced down at Cara, who was still hidden in Danny's shoulder.

"Louie… um…" Danny paused before continuing, "We took him off life support this afternoon," he explained and Flack's face fell.

Flack glanced into the room, "Oh, geez Danny, I'm sorry,"

Danny shrugged, "It was going to happen. Can I ask you a favor?"

Flack nodded.

"Could you take Cara home for me?" He asked, "I have to be here for awhile longer and I don't think her staying here is a good thing for her,"

Flack nodded, "I can get on break for about 20 minutes, they owe me one," he said as Danny transferred the clinging Cara from him to Flack. Cara felt herself being moved and she looked up to see Flack. Shaking her head, she rested her head against his arm. Flack guided Cara out of the hospital leaving Danny to help his parents with final arrangements.

About 20 minutes later, Flack was leading Cara up the final flight of stairs to Danny's apartment. He pulled out the key Danny had given him years ago just in case and unlocked the door. He gently pushed Cara inside the apartment and led her to Danny's bed, which she collapsed on and fell asleep almost immediately. Flack heard a knock on the door and was quite confused about who would be at Danny's door. He shuffled to the door, checking his watch, and opened the door to see Lindsay.

"Hey Linds…"

"Hey Flack, it Danny here?" Lindsay asked assuming that Flack was over for a baseball game.

"No, he's at the hospital," Flack caught Lindsay's look and beckoned her into the apartment, "They had to take Louie off life support today," Flack explained to Lindsay after he shut the door.

Lindsay looked at him shocked, "He never said anything about it,"

"Yeah, he didn't tell me anything either, don't feel left out. I just got Cara here on Danny's request," Flack told her.

"How is she doing?" Lindsay asked.

"She's not talking and she's asleep. I really don't know how she's doing, but from what I know, she's taking it very badly," Flack said.

"Alright, you head back to work cause I know you're still on and I'll hang out here until Danny gets home," Lindsay said and she pushed Flack out of the apartment.

"Don't need to be so pushy, Linds," Flack said turning toward her.

"I know I don't, but if I don't get you out, you'll never leave," Lindsay told him.

"Good point," Flack said before turning and heading down the hallway. Lindsay shook her head and closed the door. She walked into the kitchen and turned on the stove to make tea for herself. She poured herself some tea and sat down on the couch waiting for Danny.

The hours passed by and Lindsay heard the key in the lock and the door opened. The door closed and Danny shuffled into the living room looking awful. His eyes were red and puffy and Lindsay could make out the tear lines on his cheeks. She stood up and Danny looked at her, at first surprised and then glad that she was there.

"I heard about Louie," Lindsay said.

Danny nodded, "Yeah, he died at 3:15 this afternoon,"

Lindsay walked over to him and rubbed arm gently. Danny shook his head, "He's gone, I don't believe it, he's gone," Danny mumbled. Lindsay guided Danny to the couch where they sat down and Lindsay took Danny in her arms.

_CSI__:NYCSI:NYCSI:NY_

_Next Day…_

Cara set down the post it note and pen she was using on Danny's nightstand and rolled onto her side, clinging a pillow to her chest. After several minutes of just lying on the bed, she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. Groaning, she pulled out the phone and looked at the caller ID before answering.

"Hello?"

"Cara! Where were you yesterday afternoon? We were all worried about you. You also sound like shit," came the voice of her friend, Andrew.

"Why, thanks Andrew, buddy 'ol pal," Cara grumbled sitting up against the headboard of the bed.

"Hey, we're worried. What's going on, I'm tellin' ya, you sound like shit," Andrew stated.

"Yeah, yeah. Andrew, Louie died yesterday afternoon," Cara said.

There was a pause on the other line, "Holy shit dude, I'm sorry," Andrew said.

Cara shrugged and pulled the blanket up to her neck, "It's no big deal, we knew this was going to happen,"

"Where are you?" Andrew asked.

"Danny's apartment. Why?" Cara asked.

"Okay, just, don't move alright?" Andrew said and hung up the phone.

Cara looked at the phone and rolled her eyes as she snapped her phone shut. Cara rolled over and buried her head into the pillows and didn't move. Outside, Lindsay was making some tea for Danny. Lindsay's mom always made her tea when Lindsay was upset, especially after the death of her four friends. She pulled out the tea bag and shuffled over to the couch and handed the mug to Danny who gladly took it.

"Thanks,"

"No problem," Lindsay said and cuddled next to Danny. Danny wrapped an arm around her Lindsay's shoulder, taking in the warmth she generated. They sat there for a few minutes before a knock on the door. Danny and Lindsay exchanged looks before Lindsay stood up and headed to the door. She opened the door and there stood a younger man, his hands stuffed in his pockets and looking very nervous.

"Is Cara here?" he asked quietly.

Lindsay looked over to Danny who had set down his mug and stood up.

"Yeah, but who are you?"Danny asked.

"Andrew," he said bouncing on the balls of his feet.

Danny nodded, "Yeah, she's in my room."

"Can I see her?" Andrew asked still looking a little nervous.

Danny nodded and Andrew walked into the apartment and headed into the room. Danny watched him hurry into the room and crossed his arms. Lindsay gave him a look.

"Relax, they are not going to do anything," Lindsay said pulling him to the couch and sitting him down.

"It's not her I'm worried about, it's him," Danny grumbled.

Lindsay chuckled, "He won't try anything, so please, relax. You don't need to stress yourself out any more,"

Danny nodded as a phone began ringing and he hurried to go pick it up.

"Messer,"

"Hey Danny, its Mac,"

"Hi Mac," Danny said trying to sound halfway decent.

"Flack told me about Louie," Mac said to him and Danny sighed.

"Yeah, yeah…"

"Take a couple of days off alright? You need it and spend it with your family," Mac told Danny.

Danny sighed, "Thanks Mac,"

"No problem. Call me in a few days," Mac said.

Danny nodded, "Thanks Mac. I will,"

Danny snapped his phone shut and turned to Lindsay, "That was Mac," he stated.

Lindsay nodded and wrapped her arms around him and held him close to her and he cried.

* * *

**Review (like I said about. Like? Hate? Tell me!)**


	6. August 8

**Thanks to all who reviewed. You rock! Keep reviewing, I want to know what the audience is thinking. :) **

**Disclaimer: We've gone over this! **

**All mistakes belong to me. **

* * *

Diary Entry

August 8, 2008

Mood: Sad, tired

Alright, today was Louie's funeral. Not much really, there were only a few people there, family members, some other random people. We buried him next to Nana, who died about three years ago, just before Louie landed in the hospital. Nana and Louie had a special relationship and we knew that it would be the best to bury him next to the woman he cared about most, besides me of course.

The funeral as a whole was pretty sad. We stood there, watching the priest say his final thing, and then Louie lowered to the ground. Gesh, if anything was worse in this life than watching someone you loved and cared about being lowered into the dirt. Great… just great.

After the funeral, I spent most of the day in Central Park. I was so glad I brought jeans with me, otherwise I was going to be running around in a skirt. Mom wasn't too thrilled about me hanging around Central Park with just Andrew. Mom dislikes him, and so does Danny, but hey, Danny is an overprotective brother and I knew he wasn't going to like him. He'll get over himself though. He's a big boy.

You know who I really feel bad for. Danny. He hasn't had a normal conversation with his brother in almost 15 years because of something that happened on the way to Atlantic City. I was two years old when it happened and gesh. Whenever Louie came home, it was pretty much hell. I remember once when I was 5…

_Flashback…_

_Danny sat on the couch as a 5 year old Cara Messer danced around the living room, her favorite CD playing on __t__he aging stereo that the Messer's owned. __Cara went over to her brother and pulled on his shirt. _

_"Dance! Please?" She asked tugging on his shirt. _

_"Cara, I don't dance," Danny answered. _

_"Yes you do," Cara said crossing her arms and pouting. _

_"No I don't," Danny told her. _

_"Then why do you go to those things called 'dances'?" Cara asked cocking her head to the side. _

_"Alright, alright," Danny said standing up and grabbing Cara's hands and dancing around. Soon, both of them were laughing and enjoying themselves. They didn't hear the front door open and then close and didn't notice that Louie Messer was now standing in the living room watching his younger siblings dance. _

_"Hey Danny, is __pop__ home?" Louie asked causing Danny to stop and Cara crashing into the coffee table. _

_"Louie, what are you doing here?" Danny asked as Cara sat down and carefully pulled up her pant's leg to revel a bruised and bloody shin. __She looked up at her two brothers who didn't seem to notice. _

_"I need to talk to pop, is that a problem?" Louie asked crossing his arms. _

_"Yes, I though mom and pop told you to stay away till you cleaned up your act?" Danny asked. _

_"My act is all cleaned up. I do not understand why people say I'm still with Tanglewood," Louie said and Danny rolled his eyes. _

_"Are you that thick? Cause mom and pop don't want you anywhere near Cara until you do. And, last time I checked, you still had that tattoo on your back," Danny said and Louie shook his head. _

_"__That doesn't mean anything…" Louie whispered and Danny rolled his eyes again. _

_"Yes it does, it means everything!" Danny told him and Louie ran a hand through his hair and headed toward the door. _

_"Just tell pop I was here, alright?" Louie said as he opened the door. _

_Danny nodded and watched his brother close the door. Danny turned toward Cara and noticed her leg. He scoped her up and proceeded to go to the kitchen were he pulled out the first aid kit and opened it up. __Cara watched Danny as he took began cleaning up her leg and placing band aids on it. _

_"Danny," she said. _

_"Yeah, munchkin?" _

_"Why can't I see Louie anymore?" she asked. Danny looked up and made eye contact with his little sister. _

_"You'll understand when __you're__ older," he said returning his attention to her beat up leg. _

_"That's not fair. I AM old enough!" she said and her leg banged against the bottom cabinets. Danny looked up. _

_"Cara, right now, you don't need to know, alright?" Danny said and continued to clean up her leg. _

_There was a pause before Cara said, "Do you and Louie hate each other?" _

_Danny was taken aback by Cara's question, "What makes you say that?" _

_Cara shrugged and looked down at her leg, "__Whenever Louie comes here, it's all yelling. And you and him keep making faces at one another… I don't like it," Cara said gently swinging her legs back and forth. _

_"Louie and I don't hate each other. __We just have some problems we need to work out and haven't tried our hardest too, that's all. We still love each other," Danny said and Cara nodded. _

_Danny picked her up and set her on the floor and Cara smiled, "Can we play a game?" she asked. _

_Danny nodded and Cara hurried out of the kitchen to find a board game…_

_…End Flashback_

_CSI:NYCSI:NYCSI:NY_

Cara sat on a bench in Central Park as Andrew walked over to her and handed her a hot dog. Flack, who was sitting next to her moved slowly away from her, looking at the hot dog in fear. Cara gave him a look.

"What the heck, Flack, it's a hot dog," Cara said.

"No it's not. It's poisoned," he said looking at the hot dog in fear.

"What are you talking about?" Cara asked as Flack stood up and went to the bench across the path, where Danny and Stella were sitting. Stella shook her head.

"You still won't buy from street venders will you?" Stella asked him. Flack quickly shook his head.

"No I won't, and I have good reason not too," Flack said watching the two teens on the other side of the path eat the hotdogs.

"Why won't you eat at vendors anymore?" Danny asked Flack.

"You don't want to know, Danny," Flack said crossing his arms. Danny shook his head and looked down the path hoping to see Lindsay and Hawkes, who stopped at the lab to drop off a few things and were also going to Starbucks.

Cara and Andrew stood up and headed to a trash can and began walking away. Danny gave them a look and called out, "Cara! Where you goin'?"

Cara turned and pointed to an empty playground that was 100 yards away from them. Danny nodded and the two continued to walk to the playground. Danny watched them out of the corner of his eye until he felt something very cold being shoved into his hand. He looked up to see Hawkes handing him a small Starbucks cup. Lindsay was already sitting next to him.

Danny took the cup and smiled, "Thanks, Doc,"

"No problem," Hawkes said and continued to pass the coffee cups down.

"You're worried, aren't you?" Lindsay asked taking a sip of her Starbucks.

"Worried about what?" Danny asked shooting Lindsay a look.

"Danny, you aren't that good at subtle things," Lindsay stated returning his look.

"Fine, I am worried about Cara. I don't think she's ever had a boyfriend…"

"Danny,"

"What!"

"How do you know this is her first boyfriend?" Lindsay asked smirking.

Danny groaned resting the cold drink on his forehead as Lindsay waited for him to relax.

"What have I been missing?" Danny groaned.

"She's a 16 year old girl. Cara's going to get a boyfriend and you are going to have to face the fact she's going to look at boys," Lindsay told Danny.

"Why can't she wait a few years?" he asked himself and Lindsay rubbed his back.

"Oh, you knew this was coming," Lindsay said.

Danny looked at Lindsay and smiled than looked at the playground where both Cara and Andrew were on the swing set, talking.

* * *

**Review and have a great... eh... week! Today is Wednesday! And it's a repeat.**


	7. September 5

**Two chapters in one night! My plot bunny is really going. This is mainly a filler chapter. Keep those thoughts coming in! I enjoy reading your feedback. **

**Disclaimer: Own nothing, except Cara and Andrew**

**All mistakes belong to me. **

* * *

To: dmesser hotmail . com

September 5, 2008

Subject: Life, School, Soccer. YAY!

I know, I told you I would email you three weeks into school, but hey, it's the first week and HOLY CRAP! Juniors are so fricken busy. We've already had 5 lectures on looking at collages, we had 3 soccer games. Two in a row, one yesterday. We won, don't worry. We're 3-0 baby! YEAH!

Homework is crazy. They think we can take on 8 hours of homework and still get 8 hours of sleep and still go to school for 8 hours than soccer practice for 2 hours. Doesn't work. Did the math. They're two hours over.

How's Lindsay doing? Hope she's doing good and both of you aren't going crazy because of work. I heard about the spike in crime and immediately thought of the crime lab. Don't work too hard; I don't want you getting an ulcer.

Before you ask, Andrew is doing fine. And no, he hasn't done anything to hurt me. And yes, he still won't go near you because of that interview you gave him. Why did you ask him if he could use a condom?! Danny! I still haven't forgiven you for that!

Hey, you still going to my soccer game next week? You better cause the team is really looking for the support. We're playing our rival school and almost the whole school is going to be there. And I'll make sure you can get into the game for free. You deserve it and pretty much the whole school agrees with me.

-Cara

P.S. The Tanglewood Boys are actually being nice to me. Did they find out about Louie or what? They're staying away from my group of friends and they actually nod at me. A sense of hello I guess. What do you think?

_CSI:NYCSI:NYCSI:NY_

Cara slammed her locker shut on Friday afternoon, thanking the Lord that the first week of school was finally coming to a close. She could not wait to get home and maybe take a long nap before hitting the books. Andrew walked up behind her and snaked his arms around her waist.

"Whatcha doin' this afternoon?" Andrew asked resting his chin on her shoulder.

"Sleeping. Why? What do you have in mind?" Cara asked picking up her messenger bag and leaned against his chest.

"Well… hmm… I was thinking about heading into Manhattan…"

"Again?" Cara asked.

"Yeah, I was thinking heading over to Rockefeller Center. One of the school rock bands is performing there tonight," Andrew said.

"Really? Which one?" she asked.

"The only one Jefferson High has," Andrew said and received a light slap on the chest.

"It's not my problem that I don't try to stay connected with the times," Cara said as Andrew chuckled.

"So, what do you say?" Andrew asked.

Cara shrugged, "I'm game, as long as dinner's on you," she said.

"Don't worry it will be, but transportation is on you," Andrew said gently kissing her cheek.

"Yeah, it will be. What time?"

"Be at your house at 7?"

"Alright, I'll see you then," Andrew said and headed down the crowded hallway. Cara shouldered her bag and headed out the opposite way that Andrew had gone. She slowly made her way home. She was relieved that the week was over, and also that her soccer coach was kind enough to give the team Friday off. She wanted to be home alone for a little bit before she left for Manhattan, maybe get some homework done or eat. Eating sounded good at that point.

She took the back way home, which included passing by the 'headquarters' of the Tanglewood Boys. It was normally quiet there, but today something was different. One of Cara's old friends, Jake, was hanging out at the front door, his arms crossed and his face expressionless. She passed by him with a small smile and continued walking. Suddenly, she felt someone grab her arm and in front of her stood Jake.

"Jake, what the hell?"

"Be careful," He said.

Cara gave him a look, "Be careful of what?" she asked him.

"I'm not supposed to be saying anything to you, but I would be careful where you step. Make sure all your friends are careful," Jake said as he let go of her arm and disappeared into the 'headquarters.' Cara watch him leave and quickly left the alleyway and headed home. She opened the door to her home and closed it. Her dad was sitting on his chair, reading a book when she walked into the living room.

"How was school?" Nicolas asked Cara as she dropped her stuff next to the couch and almost fell on the couch.

"Long… day… Hey, me and Andrew are going out tonight. You mind?" Cara asked.

"No, where are you going?" Nicolas asked.

"Rockefeller Center. I guess one of the school bands is playing there tonight," Cara said.

"Have fun. When are you going?"

"Seven,"

"Alright, if you're going to go, go do some homework," Nicolas said and pointed to the ceiling signaling Cara to go upstairs.

"Alright, alright. I'll go do my homework," she said picking her stuff back up and made her way up the stairs.

She closed the room to her door and again dropped her stuff next to her desk. She opened her email and saw that Danny had responded to her. She opened the email and read;

To: soccermesser hotmail . com

September 5, 8008

Subject: Re: Life, School, Soccer. YAY!

3-0 for soccer. May I say that is a great way to start off the season. Don't worry, I will be at that game next week. Hawkes wants to come, so I'm thinking of dragging him along too. So you'll have to get two of us in for free. That alright with ya? Hope so cause you're going to get us in for free whether you like it or not.

Lindsay's fine and we are pulling double overtimes because of the spike. I haven't been in my apartment in 3 days. Holy crap, I want to kill the next murderer right now, but I won't. I do not want to end up in jail.

Look, the condom comment? I couldn't resist! I had to ask him Cara. Give me a break will ya? You're dating for your first time and I'm worried about you. I'm also worried that this isn't the first boyfriend you've had, but the first one you wanted to tell me about.

The Tanglewood Boys acting nice? That is strange? I don't know what to tell you, munchkin, they never were nice to me. They may have heard about Louie, but that makes absolutely no sense if you ask me. That's just weird.

Alright, I need to go. Adam just came in with some DNA and duty calls.

-Dan

Cara leaned back in her chair and smiled. She looked at her clock, then her planner, which was empty for the teachers gave them no homework. Cara smiled, maybe she would get that cat nap she wanted.

* * *

**Thanks for reading and review please!**


	8. September 10 and 20

**Thanks for all the reviews. I'm supposed to be writing a history paper, instead my plot bunny is on overdrive. Wonderful. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters. **

**All mistakes belong to me. **

* * *

Diary Entry

September 10, 2008

Mood: Tired, adrenaline rush… gotta love sports

It's ahh… 7 at night, I still have a mountain of homework to do, and I just got home from a soccer game and guess what? WE WON!

HOLY CRAP!

THIS IS HUGE!

Hawkes and Danny came to the game and like I promised them, got them in for free. It was pretty easy, the people selling the tickets took one look at them and waved them in. People behind them thought they were getting in for free too… they were definitely in for a surprise. I saw this happen and I ran into one of my defenders. She got pissed at me; I told her to shake it off.

So, now we beat one of our biggest opponents, it gets a little stress off of me for a little bit, thank God. With all this homework and collage crap the school keeps shoving on us, I feel like I'm going to explode. I'm serious. My head hurts all the time, I feel sick cause I'm so stressed, I'm going to get an ulcer before Danny.

Wonderful.

Hey, at least mom is beginning to like Andrew. Took her long enough. She invited him over to dinner and they had a great conversation while I sat there trying not to die from the mortal embarrassment of some of the questions asked. I'll save you the examples. Andrew and I managed to get out and go for a walk. It was nice to get some fresh air then sit in the house hoping pop wouldn't ask the condom question. Oh god…

Oh yeah! The night at Rockefeller Center was SO much fun. I completely enjoyed myself, even though I couldn't understand half of the songs the band was singing cause they spent most of their time screaming into the microphone instead of actually singing.

Oh yeah! (I need to think of a new light bulb line, I visited Danny on Sunday and he was acting really strange. I mean, really strange. He kept fidgeting and sticking his hand in his pocket. I wonder if he got something for Lindsay…

If you know what I mean.

_CSI:NYCSI:NYCSI:NY_

_Day before…_

Cara stood in front of her locker, her head resting against the locker and her French book opened and sitting on the palms of her hands. She was lighting hitting her head every once in a while, looking very frustrated and tired all at the same time. Two of her friends, Jessica and Sam walked up next to her. Sam tapped her on the shoulder and they watched her jump three feet in the air out of surprise.

"What's up with you?" Sam asked as Cara ran her hand through her hair and sighed.

"I didn't study my French, as you can tell," Cara said holding up the book, "And I didn't get back until late last night because I was visiting Danny and he was acting strange,"

"In what way?" Jessica asked taking the French book away from Cara knowing she would hurt herself is Jessica didn't.

"In a not normal way," Cara said grabbing the book back from Jessica and opening it to the vocabulary section.

"Funny, Cara," Sam said leaning against the locker next to her, "How was your weekend since we weren't able to talk to you yesterday," she asked crossing her arms.

"Oh, the usual. Homework, stretching, taking Advil every four hours, and banging my head against the wall. How was your weekend?" Cara asked looking at her best friends.

"Fine," both said at the same time trying to hide smiles that threatened to creep on their faces. Cara noticed this and gave both of them a look.

"What?" Cara asked snapping her book shut and shoving it into her bag.

"Cara, you always have the same routine and if you're that stressed out…" Sam said but never got to finish her sentence.

"No. I am NOT quitting soccer," Cara said holding up her hand and shaking her head.

"It was just a suggestion," Sam said laughing.

Cara opened up her locker again and stuffed her French book in and before she could close the locker, Sam reached in and pulled out a letter.

"What's this?" she asked holding it up and Cara grabbed the letter from her hand and tore it open.

_Cara_

_Meet us at the cemetery on September __20__, 1 am sharp. Don't be late._

Cara looked up from the letter in surprise. Jessica caught Cara's expression and asked, "What's up?"

"Nothing, nothing. I think someone's boyfriend dropped it in the wrong locker," she said as she balled up the paper and threw it in the trash. She flashed a smiled at her friends and they made their way to class, the letter still on the front of Cara's mind.

_CSI:NYCSI:NYCSI:NY_

Date: September 20, 2008

Time: 10:32 am

Three male teenagers were caught at a local cemetery. One had a gun while the others were unarmed. One female teenager was also present. She sustained multiple injuries to the face, arms, and abdomen. When police arrived, the oldest of the three male teenagers had a gun to the female teenager's head. Shot was considered fair, out of self defense.

1 DOA

2 taken into police custody

1 victim, receiving medical attention at Angel of Mercy Hospital

_CSI:NYCSI:NYCSI:NY_

Cara walked through the grave sites, tightening her light jacket around her body, not because she was cold, but because she was nervous, scared. She had received a letter from the Tanglewood Boys to meet her, and that's what she was doing. Meeting them to see what they wanted. She got to Louie's grave and sat down next to the tombstone, not knowing what to expect.

Cara took a deep breath and kept her eyes out for anyone coming toward the grave. She heard some rustling of bushes that sat in front of her and three boys emerged from the shadows. Cara cocked her head and watched them as they came closer to the grave. She licked her lips and stood up, knowing who they were.

"Look who decided to show up. Good evening, Cara. It's so good that you could be here," the boy in the middle said with a small smirk on his face.

"What do you want, Tim. Get this over with so I can go home and get some sleep," Cara shot back at them and the boys snickered.

"Alright, we'll get this done and over quick," the boy named Tim said and Cara felt a punch across her face. She stopped and heard the laughter of the boys and looked back at them.

"What the hell! What do you want?" Cara asked glaring at them.

"Oh, we were told that you need to be taught a few lessons and they sent us over to teach them. I would consider myself lucky, they were thinking about sending Paul," Tim said and another punch came out of no where, connecting with her gut.

"Seriously! What do you want?" Cara asked, now on her knees, her arms wrapped around her stomach to try and minimize the pain that was coursing though her body.

Her answer was the clicking of a gun. She looked up to see a barrel next to her temple. There was a few seconds of complete silence before there was a yell.

"Put the gun down! Now!"

Cara recognized that voice. Whose was it?

"Do we really have too?" Tim asked and Cara could hear his finger itching to pull the trigger.

"Put the gun down and nobody has to get hurt," the voice came again.

There was a shot fired and Cara's world went black.

* * *

**Please review!**


	9. September 21

**One last chapter. Won't post for the next three days cause I'm going to be pretty busy. Keep the reviews coming, I love reading your feedback and I'll be back next week. **

**Disclaimer: silence**

**All mistakes are mine. **

* * *

To: takeitfromme hotmail . com

Date: September 21, 2008

Subject: Re: Cara

Hey Andrew, it's Danny.

I'm emailing on the subject of Cara. She's fine, just has a massive headache. You can come and see her as soon as you get the email. She really wants to see you and I think she's getting tired of my jokes and Flack's comic books.

I have a favor to ask of you. Could you watch her for me? Please? I need a second pair of eyes and she trusts you and I know she cares about you too. I'm worried about her and I want to make sure she's alright. You don't have to update me regularly, but if anything strange or weird happens, give me a call. I'll list my cell at the bottom.

Thanks Andrew.

-Danny

_CSI:NYCSI:NYCSI:NY_

Cara sat up in her hospital bed, a stack of cards in one hand and a pen in the other. Flack was standing at the front of her bed shaking his head.

"No, I am not playing Rummy against you. You cheat! You always have," Flack said.

"I do not cheat. That cheating thing is all in your head," Cara said crossing her arms and giving him a pout, "Please, it's your fault I'm stuck in this hospital for 4 more hours,"

"No it's not," Flack retorted.

"Oh yes it is. You had to go and shoot your mouth off about my head still bothering me. I could have been at home, sleeping in a normal bed and not in one where the mattress was 2 inches thick," Cara said glaring at him, "You owe me,"

"No I don't," Flack said, his arms crossed also shooting the same glare at Cara.

"No he doesn't," Danny said walking into the hospital room and sitting down on one of the plastic chairs in the corner of the room.

"Please don't tell me you are going to side with this moron and not with your little sister," Cara said shooting a glare at Danny.

"Hey Cara, that moron comment, that cut me deep," Flack said looking hurt. Cara threw him a look and Danny whispered, "It's the drugs."

Cara was to busy shooting her brother a look she didn't hear the knocking at the hospital room door and a face peaking in through the small window on the door. Flack noticed and waved whoever was at the door in.

Andrew stepped into the small hospital room, looking very nervous. Flack gave him one look and recognized him.

"You're the kid I questioned for shop lifting," Flack said pointing at him.

Andrew nodded and Cara took notice to the new occupant in the room, "Andrew. What are you doing here?" she asked knowing she hadn't called or emailed him in the past two days.

"I got an email from your brother telling me you were in the hospital," Andrew said shooting cautionary looks at Flack from time to time.

"You're dating this kid?" Flack asked Cara and she nodded. Flack shook his head and headed out of the room, but stopped by Andrew to whisper, "I can run a background check anytime, kid," he whispered causing Andrew to jump three feet in the air.

Flack walked out of the hospital room and Danny stood up and stretched, "Alright, I'm going to see if I can get you out of here earlier. I'll be back," Danny said leaving the room also. Andrew stood by the hospital bed, his hands dug deep into his pockets. Cara sighed,

"Alright Andrew, if you're going to say it, get it on with it," Cara grumbled taking the rubber band that was on her wrist and wrapping it around the deck of cards.

"Are you an idiot?! You know what those kids are made of, what the hell where you thinking? Where you trying to prove that you're strong or something? Cara, you scared the crap out of me when you didn't call me back last night and then I get an email from your brother telling me you're in the hospital?" Andrew said letting the words pore out of his mouth. Cara bit her lip and shook her head.

"I'm sorry, Andrew. I wasn't thinking. They told me to meet them at the cemetery, so I did. They were reminding me for the past week about it and I just went thinking it was going to be about something else. I was stupid, I shouldn't have done it. I'm sorry," Cara said.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Andrew asked as he sat down on the bed.

Cara shrugged, "Didn't want you getting dragged into it, that's why," she said.

Andrew pulled her into his arms, just wanting to hold her for a little bit. Outside the hospital room, Danny was standing next to Flack, his arms crossed.

"Thanks Don,"

Flack gave him a look, "Why are you thanking me?" he asked.

"She wouldn't be alive right now if you didn't go," Danny said and headed to the nurses station to see if he could get Cara discharged.

* * *

**Please Review!**


	10. October 4

**Sorry this is a short chapter, but it is pure D/L fluff. So, enjoy. Special thanks to CaRiNeSs for the only review. Thank you SO much!**

**Disclaimer: Own nothing. **

**All mistakes belong to me **

* * *

Diary Entry

October 4, 2008

Mood: Stress, humor, and HOLY CRAP! I DID IT!

I managed to crack Danny. I now know WHY he was acting so weird for the past couple of weeks. He got the ring. He got the ring! I KNEW IT! I pretty much freaked out when I finally got Danny to tell me what he was doing and why he was so nervous. I am so good. Just admit it, I am good.

Anyway, I'm turning 17 on October 17th! Holy moly, I'm getting old. I'm not going to do anything really special when I turn 17. I'm not big on 'Let's go party!' even though my friend Jessica is totally for it. I'm… not. I'd rather stay home and watch reruns of _Whose Line is it Anyway? _and_ MASH._ Jessica wants me to go out, but right now… my parents are not very happy with me. I decided to go to a cemetery late at night and get myself beat up by three Tanglewood Boys… like I knew they were going to beat me up. My gut still hurts from where they punched me and my face is still bruised.

When I headed back to school, my homeroom teacher totally freaked out on me. She was going crazy, asking me what happened. I told her I walked into a door.

She believed me….

How thick can you get?

Anyway, back to the parent thing, they don't trust me going out anymore. It's either my house, one of my friend's houses, or Danny's apartment in the city. No movies, no playground, nothing. Well… I guess that's what you get for sneaking out and getting yourself beat up. Mom almost killed me when she found out. I hid at Danny's place for awhile until mom cooled down. Pop also suggested I do that for my own safety. It was a good idea seeing that she was going to kill me and I wasn't going to have to worry about anything anymore.

So now on to a boring day. I really hope Danny's having a better day than I am.

_CSI:NYCSI:NYCSI:NY_

Lindsay was curled on Danny's bed, the comforter covering the bottom half of her body. She didn't want to move and it was almost close to 10 am. When was the last time she slept that late? Shifting slightly, she buried her face in one of the pillows, taking in the sent that lingered on it. Her favorite part about having days off; spending time just lying there and relaxing.

Danny was up hours ago, moving around in the kitchen and in the living room. Lindsay knew Danny was trying not to wake her up, but he ended up waking her up anyway, not that she really cared. She shifted again in the bed and sat up, rubbing her eyes. She got out and padded to the kitchen where Danny was pulling down a box of Corn Flacks. She snuck up behind him and wrapped her arms around his wait, resting her head on his back.

"You don't have to be up, "He grunted setting down the box of cereal.

"I was awake. What are you doing?"

"Checking to make sure the cereal is not expired," he said pushing it away with his finger.

"Is it?" Lindsay asked.

"Yup," Danny said and sighed.

"So, do you have any food?" Lindsay asked.

"That was the last of the non takeout items," Danny said turning and hugging Lindsay around her waist.

"Alright then, we'll go out and get some things so we can eat," Lindsay said.

"Oh… no. I don't want to go shopping," he groaned and Lindsay laughed.

"You know you want food," Lindsay said raising and eyebrow and a small smirk forming on her lips.

"Can we just stay in… you know," Danny asked brushing his lips against hers. Lindsay pulled away from him.

"Later, cowboy. Right now we need to get some food because I am hungry," Lindsay said heading back to Danny's bedroom and emerged 5 minutes later changed in jeans and a comfortable sweatshirt. Danny sighed and also headed into the bedroom to change real quickly and came back out. They left the apartment and headed down to a nearby store that they spent time in. Lindsay stopped in front of the giant refrigerators where the cold items were stored.

Danny reached in and grabbed a couple of boxes of waffles and pancakes and they grabbed some cereal too. They bought the food and headed back to the apartment where they began making a late breakfast.

"You know… this is more like a brunch," Danny said as he put a couple of waffles into the toaster and pressed down the lever.

"Brunch is good," Lindsay said grabbing a bowl and pouring some of the cereal into a bowl and adding milk to it. When the waffles popped up, Danny grabbed both of them and stuffed one into his mouth. Lindsay smirked as she spooned some cereal into her mouth. They stood in silence, eating until Danny brushed his hands on his jeans and smiled, signaling he was finished. Lindsay shook her head and pointed to the bowl, which was till half full. Danny pouted and Lindsay laughed into her bowl.

"You know pouting isn't going to help your cause," Lindsay said finishing her bowl and placing it in the sink.

Danny shrugged and wrapped his arms around her waist, "So, you know what I was thinkin' this mornin'…"

"Hmm." Lindsay answered resting her head against his chest.

"Are you gonna take me up on that offer?" Danny asked cocking his head to the side and showing her his trademark smile.

Lindsay smirked and nodded, "Make tracks, cowboy,"

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed and please review!**


	11. October 17 and 18

**Yeah! New chapter. Thanks to all the lurkers, reviewers, and people who added me to alerts and favorites. Thanks for all of that! Remember; Tomorrow we've got a new episode. Get ready for some D/L angst tomorrow :( **

**Disclaimer: I own only Cara, shoes, and a blue shirt**

**All mistakes are mine. **

* * *

Diary Entry

Date: October 17, 2008

Mood: Sarcastic

It was my birthday today and that's supposed to be fun, right? That's how God made it. You have good birthdays. You enjoy yourself and have fun with your friends and family. You know though, this is turning out to be one of THE worst birthdays, imaginable. Let me tell you why.

1. I got up late for school today. And my first class on Friday is French were the teacher is from hell and I'm not kidding. She docked me several points for being late to class and to top it all off, I accidently began speaking Italian instead of French. I was so caught up in being late to class that I totally forgot I was in _French_. NOT FRICKEN ITALIAN!

2. Jessica baked me a cake and she put it on a chair in English, not realizing I didn't sit at that specific seat. So, this kid named Josh comes over, not paying attention to anything, and sits on it. Fantastic.

3. Andrew got grounded the **NIGHT** before. Self explanatory.

4. My life sucks.

Okay, no it doesn't, but this has officially been a crappy birthday. At least I got to watch my _MASH _and _Whose Line is it Anyway?_ reruns. I would be nowhere without those. And I get to head into the city tomorrow to see Danny and hang out at the lab. I always love hanging around the lab and spending time with the team. I knew the team pretty much since the day I was born. Okay… no, since I was 10.

I remember Aiden. Sucked when she died. Miss her really badly. She was very funny and always had those comments that picked up back up because they made you laugh so hard you cried.

I even met Mac's wife, Claire, too. That was hard on everyone when she died. I mean, Danny didn't really know her, but when I was younger, mom and pop worked the same shifts sometimes and Danny couldn't take me and Louie was out doing… stuff and I guess Claire was visiting Mac at the lab one day and overheard Danny trying to get someone to watch me. Claire took up Danny's offer and she babysat me for the night. It was pretty awesome and she was a spectacular woman too. So was Aiden.

Why do the good die young?

….

That's a Billy Joel song!

Anyway… I'm going to head back downstairs and enjoy my Friday night. With my parents. Eating cake. Mmmm… Cake. Cake always makes me happy. So I shall eat cake. Now I'm rambling.

Wonderful.

_CSI:NYCSI:NYCSI:NY_

_Next day…_

Cara was grabbing her jacket when her phone rang. Rolling her eyes, she dropped her jacket on the bed and picked up her cell phone.

"Yello,"

"Hey Cara," came Andrew's voice sounding very depressed.

"Hey, why do you sound so sad?" Cara asked rummaging through her dresser to find her chap stick.

"You know I got grounded two days ago?" Andrew asked.

"How can I forget," Cara mumbled.

"I'm grounded for a full 2 weeks," He admitted.

"Oh damn… So I guess next weekend's off too," Cara said cradling the phone between her ear and her shoulder as she grabbed a hat from her dresser drawer.

"That is true. I'll make it up to you, I promise," Andrew said and Cara sat down on her bed.

"No, Andrew, it's alright. The world isn't going to stop turning because you got grounded for my birthday. You know what? I'll just get grounded for your birthday," Cara said sitting on the edge of her bed and smiling.

"You are hilarious, you know that," Andrew said his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"I try my hardest. Alright, I've got to go. Have fun being grounded and I'll talk to you Monday?" Cara said standing up and grabbing her jacket.

"Yup, I plan to be at school. See ya later,"

"Bye Andrew," she said and hung up the phone. She jammed on her Yankees hat (Yes, she was a Yankees fan, much to Danny's dismay,), pulled on her light jacket, and grabbed her small messenger bag. She hurried downstairs and hoped to get to the door before her parents could stop her.

"Cara,"

Too late.

"Yeah, mom?" Cara said slowly turning from the door to face her mom.

"Call me when you get to Danny's apartment and don't take any of the back ways, okay?" Mariya told her daughter and she nodded slowly.

"Mom, don't worry, I'll be careful," Cara said, her hand still gripping the door knob.

"You know, I'm just worried about you and I don't want you to get hurt again," Mariya told her daughter and Cara nodded.

"I'll be careful, mom, please, just relax," Cara said opening the door and stepping out. Mariya waved goodbye and Cara carefully shut the door before running down the street and toward the water taxi that headed toward Manhattan. When she arrived at the dock, the taxi was getting ready to depart and she knew if she missed it, she would end up waiting a good 20 minutes for the next one. She hurried through the gates and arrived at the front right as the captain was closing the doors. The captain gave her a look and opened them all the way to let her in.

"You're lucky, I was going to shut the gates," The captain said.

"Thanks," Cara said with a smile and as she walked away mumbled, 'No shit Sherlock,"

Cara took a seat at the front of the taxi as it slowly made its way across the Hudson. The wind against her face felt good, even though it was October and the days were beginning to get colder and shorter. She pulled out her cell phone and began fiddling with it to pass the time. The boat docked 20 minutes later and the passengers departed. Cara began making her way to the Crime Lab and decided not to pay attention to what was going on; though she did pass a Jamba Juice that was filling up with Spider Men.

She entered the Crime Lab several blocks down and stopped at the front desk. There sat a young woman, looking as if she wanted to be somewhere else besides there.

"Umm… I'm looking for a Detective Messer," Cara said tapping her fingers against the desk the woman sat at. She looked up and rolled her eyes.

"Name," she said sharply.

"Cara," she stated.

The woman gave her a look, "I need a last name too,"

"Messer. Cara Messer," Cara said quickly not wanted to upset the already PMSing woman.

She paused and looked down the list, "I'm sorry, but I can't let you up. You're not on the list," the woman said.

"Huh? You have lists now?" Cara asked feeling completely lost and confused.

"Yes, ever since our break in last year, we must have names of all visitors. I'm sorry, but I have to ask you to leave otherwise I'll have security escort you out," The woman said setting down her pen and looking at Cara.

Cara bit her lip, trying not to get herself into trouble by asking the woman if she looked like someone who was part of the Irish mob before she was saved by someone.

"Oh, Rachel, she's alright," came the voice of Detective Mac Taylor, who came walking in holding a cup of coffee and a small smirk on his face.

The woman Cara now knew as Rachel gave the Detective a look, "She's not on the list. I was specifically told not to let anyone who was not on the list in," Rachel said.

"Well… you know, you could easily put her on the list and no one would know she wasn't originally on the list. Anyway, she's the sister of a CSI here, she's safe," Mac said to Rachel who suddenly looked very angry.

"Alright," she grumbled and Mac nodded thanks before leading Cara to an elevator. He pressed the up button and the door opened and he entered the elevator. Cara slowly followed and the doors closed.

"Um, thanks for helping me out back there," Cara said breaking the silence as the elevator made it's why up to the 35th floor.

"No problem. I hate that new rule anyway. Sinclair was the one who put it in," Mac said taking a sip of his coffee.

"Who's Sinclair?" Cara asked.

"Head guy and a major pain in my ass," Mac grumbled causing Cara to laugh.

The elevator doors opened and the two stepped out. Cara said goodbye to Mac and headed to where Danny's office was. When she got there, no one was in the office so she decided to make herself comfortable. Cara managed to get herself on Danny's computer and was busy surfing the net when she heard a soft knock at the door to the office. Looking up, she saw Flack standing there.

"Hi Flack,"

"Hey Cara. How are you feeling?" Flack asked sitting at Lindsay's desk.

"I'm fine. Still a little sore but good," Cara said, "How did you know I was there?" she asked.

"You were at the cemetery?" Flack asked and Cara nodded.

Flack shrugged, "I go a call from some kid by the name of Jake telling me that you were going to be in a cemetery and your life was threatened. I took his claim seriously and headed there. By the time I got there, that kid was holding a gun to your head and I acted on instinct," Flack explained.

"Jake… hmm… now that explains it all," Cara said leaning back in the chair.

"What do you mean?" Flack asked.

"A couple of days before I got the note, he stopped me and told me to watch myself. I should have listened to him," Cara grumbled and Flack decided not to press the subject.

"Have you seen Danny?" Cara asked sitting up straighter on the chair.

"He's out in the field. Should be back pretty soon," Flack said. He checked his watch and quickly stood up.

"I've got to go. I'll see ya later and… happy birthday," Flack said before he left the office. Cara nodded thanks and turned her attention back to the computer screen. She had gotten lost in reading an article on MSN that she didn't hear her brother enter the office and was standing behind her, an evil smile etched on his face. He grabbed her shoulders and yelled causing Cara to scream and jump up out of his seat. Turning around, she saw Danny cracking up and holding his sides. She glared at him and hit him upside the head causing him to stop laughing.

"What was that for?" Danny asked rubbing his head lightly.

"For scaring the crap out of me, that's what it was for," Cara said placing her hands on her hips and continued to glare at him.

"Hey, all I can say is that it was totally worth it. Your face was priceless," Danny said earning another slap from Cara.

"Fine, guess I won't give you your birthday gift," Danny said crossing his arms and his eyes began roaming around the room.

Cara knew what Danny was playing around and decided to play along with him, "Yup, that is fine with me," she said shrugging.

Danny gave her a look and sighed, "I taught you well didn't I?" he asked.

"Too well," she said with a smirk.

Danny waved his hand and Cara smirked, "So… can I see it?"

Danny looked at her, "See what?"

"Your badge," Cara said some sarcasm present in her voice.

Danny gave her a look as Cara shook her head, "No, the ring! Can I see it?"

"Oh," he mumbled and stuffed his hands into his pocket and retrieved a small box. He handed it to Cara who checked to make sure Lindsay was not around and quickly opened it. She gave a small smile, closed the lid shut and handed it back to her brother.

"It's pretty," she said quietly.

Danny shrugged, "I had some help,"

"Stella?"

"How did you know?" Danny asked.

"Stella is the person who lives at Tiffany's. Of course she would be the one to choose for picking out a ring," Cara said waving her hand.

"Now… all I have to do is figure out how I'm going to do it," Danny said slipping the box back into his pocket.

"Ahh… I say December," Cara said sitting down on the chair and resting her chin against her knuckles.

"Why December?" he asked.

"December is pretty amazing time here. You've got Rockefeller Center, the ball drop in Times Square, Central Park is pretty awesome during Christmas," Cara said shrugging.

Danny looked it up, "Hey… why don't we talk about this later and actually, Adam wanted to show you something… go find him," Danny said quickly.

Cara gave him a look and looked behind her seeing Lindsay making her way to the office. Cara got the hint, smiled at Danny and scurried out of the office, hoping to find Adam so she could play around the A/V lab.

* * *

**Keep reviewing! **


	12. October 31

**October is over. So to all of you who can't wait till December, one more month! YAY! Read and Enjoy. **

**All mistakes are mine. **

**Disclaimer: silence **

* * *

To: dmesser hotmail . com

Date: October 31, 2008

Subject: Happy Halloween!

Well… as the subject says, Happy Halloween, bro. Hope your enjoying the holiday and you don't have any strange and unusual cases that have to do with Halloween. I have to go to a party tonight that Jessica is hosting. She's forcing me to go and I'm not too pleased about that. She told me it would be the 'party of the year!' Oh gesh… don't make it the party of the year, something always goes wrong when that happens.

Anyway… I'm going as Derek Jeter. I know you still love me even though I'm a Yankees fan. Hey, at least I cheer for the Mets too and not just the Yankees. Don't tell anyone though; don't want to get beaten up by someone who is a crazy insane person who has nothing better to do with their lives. Anyway, I'm going as Derek Jeter. I told you that already didn't I? Oh well.

I have decided to get a job. I know, surprise, surprise, but I start after soccer seasons ends, which is pretty exciting. We need to win one more game before we head to state. And if we head to state, you better come to the games or ELSE! Mom and pop are going to come too and you know how much they hate standing out in the cold and their doing this for me. Yay!

Oh yeah, thanks for your gift. Reminds me of the good days that I truly miss. And I was wondering where that picture went too! I remember that day so well. Louie threatened to toss me off the side of the bridge into the falls and I ended up crying! Good times… good times.

So… ahh… I was going to say something else, but I completely forgot what I was going to say! Ha. Well, I've got to go change into my costume (Jeans, t-shirt and baseball cap. Real original.) and head out. I'll call you later and have you given any thoughts to how you want to propose? Because I've got a friend who could get you into Rockefeller Center when it's closed.

Just give me a holler if you need any help.

Love ya,

Cara.

_CSI:NYCSI:NYCSI:NY_

Cara was pulling on her baseball hat when the doorbell rang and she heard her mother answering it. Cara head some chatting and then loud thumps that signaled her friend Sam was making her way up to her room. The door opened and Sam stopped, her face falling as she shook her head.

"Honey, you really need to become more creative," she said and Cara looked down at her costume.

"What's wrong?" Cara asked.

"You were Derek Jeter last year," Sam said sitting down on Cara's bed.

"I was?"

Sam nodded and Cara groaned, "I'm sorry that I can't remember what I did last year for Halloween. It's bad enough I have problems remembering what I had for breakfast this morning," Cara said rolling her eyes and returning to her dresser.

"Oh come on. You have to pick something different," Sam said and Cara turned to look at her. She gave a little pout which Cara waved off.

"I am not changing anything for you, even if it was the Pink Energizer bunny," Cara said.

Sam raised an eyebrow, "I thought you hated pink?"

Cara shrugged, "That little bunny is so damn cute,"

"Even cuter than Andrew?"

Cara bit her lip and smiled, "Just a little," she said with a small smile on her face and Sam burst into giggles.

"Alright, you have definitely fallen head over heels. Does Danny know you have a boyfriend?" Sam asked grabbing a pillow and lying on her stomach giving her friend a look.

"Yes, sadly. He's been driving me up the wall with this 'boyfriend' stuff," Cara said grabbing chap stick and putting it on. Sam shrugged.

"Well, he is your brother, he's supposed to be worried about you," Sam said.

"Thanks for siding with me," Cara said rolling her eyes and she rubbed her hands together, "Ready to go?" she asked.

"Totally," Sam said jumping up and linking arms with Cara as they made their way down the stairs. Mariya was standing in the kitchen, reading a magazine when she heard the girls come down the stairs. She poked her head out and smiled, "Have fun and don't get into trouble," she called out.

Cara waved at her and the two girls headed out the door and down the street. The nights were beginning to get colder and Sam shivered. Cara gave her a look and shook her head, "You should've brought a jacket,"

"Then it wouldn't have matched my costume!" Sam said. Cara looked at her friend's costume. She wore a forest green skirt with a forest green tank top to go with it.

"You're a fairy, aren't you?" Cara asked pointing to the skirt.

"Of course I am," Sam said stopping to strike a pose. Cara rolled her eyes and dragged Sam along with her.

"You've got a second half?" Cara asked as they neared Jessica's house.

"Yes…" Sam said with a small smirk.

"Who,"

"Josh," Sam said.

"That's the kid who sat on my cake!" Cara yelled as Sam laughed turning a bright red in her cheeks.

They arrived at Jessica's house where the door was wide open and music blaring from inside.

"I'm surprised Jessica's parents let her do this," Cara grumbled as they walked through the door and into the party. Teenagers where dancing all around and people where laughing and talking with one another. Sam and Cara walked through the crowd and found their group of friends.

"Hey guys!" Sam called out grabbing everyone's attention. Hello's were exchanged and Josh pulled Sam aside and whispered something in her ear causing her to giggle. Cara shook her head and felt someone come up behind her.

"Why, look, it's my favorite baseball player," she heard a whisper in her ear and Cara smiled.

"Look who's not grounded anymore," Cara said poking Andrew in the gut. He smirked,

"Lots of begging and convincing was used to let me come to this party," Andrew said.

"I bet," Cara said.

The party went on for hours and Cara for the first time enjoyed herself at a party. Mainly because it was a Halloween party and she considered it kind of stupid, but still, she was having fun. The hours when by and soon it was close to 11:30 and it wasn't slowing down. Cara was getting worn out by the minute and told her friends that she was going to be heading home soon. Andrew agreed with her and offered to walk her home. She agreed and the two ended up walking home, taking their time.

"You enjoy the party?" Andrew asked as they walked down the darken streets, Andrew holding Cara's hand.

"It was fun, just it's been a long day and I'm tired," Cara said with a smile.

"Me too,"

_CSI:NYCSI:NYCSI:NY_

"Alright, there you are. Oh! You're a princess and a very pretty one too. There you are. Happy Halloween!" Lindsay closed the door shut and looked at the bowl of candy.

"We're running low," she said to Danny as she set the bowl on a small table near the door.

"I only bought 2 bags," Danny said.

"Are you kidding, you are going to need more than 2 bags of candy," Lindsay said crossing her arms.

"I don't get this many kids usually. It's only one or two and they usually live on this floor…" he paused and shook his head quickly and disappeared into the kitchen to grab a beer. Lindsay tapped the table and followed him into the kitchen. There was still some tension whenever Ruben was mentioned or a small reference to the young boy. Lindsay followed him into the kitchen.

Lindsay walked up next to Danny and rubbed his back softly in hopes of relaxing.

"Sorry," he mumbled, his voice gruff.

Lindsay shook her head, "It's alright,"

Danny opened the beer and took a long swig of the drink. He shook his head and a smile formed on his face, "So, you want to watch that horror move?"

Lindsay nodded, "You're on," she said and Lindsay grabbed the horror movie they had picked up before they left the lab. Lindsay dropped it in the DVD player and sat down next to Danny and he wrapped around her shoulder. They were barely through the movie when Danny looked at Lindsay and her eyes were closed and her breathing was relaxed and even. Danny decided that he wasn't going to survive much longer and stood up to shut the DVD player and TV off. Lindsay shifted a little from her place on the couch and Danny walked back over.

He whispered into her ear, "Montana, come on, lets get you to bed,"

Lindsay opened an eye and sleepily nodded, wrapping her arms around Danny's neck to allow him to pull her up. He carried her to the bedroom and she curled up on the right side of the bed, falling asleep almost immediately. Danny fell on the bed also, not bothering to change until he realized that the ring was still in his pocket. Freezing, he slowly turned over and pulled it out of his pocket and quietly opened the side table drawer and placed it in.

"Danny, what are you doing?" came the voice of a very tired Lindsay.

Danny paused before he said, "Nothing, nothing. Just my wallet was in my pocket," he lied.

Lindsay nodded before falling asleep again. Danny sighed out of relief and turned back to face Lindsay and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Love ya, Montana," He whispered.

"Love you too,"

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed and review!**


	13. November 13 and 14

**Alright, another short chapter. It's to tie you guys off until I can post again. I'll probably wait till I finish this history paper that's due in two days... so. Hope you enjoy and I would again like to thank all who reviewed, added me to their favorites, and added me to their alerts. Makes me know you guys actually enjoy the story! Thanks :D**

**All mistakes belong to me.**

**Disclaimer: I own a blanket and a chem book. **

* * *

Date: November 13, 2008

To: soccermesser hotmail . com

Subject: God help me!

Alright, can I take you up on that Rockefeller option? I am getting nowhere on the help department, aka Flack. Okay, I know, bad choice for someone to help me, but hey, he's the only person besides you who knows I'm planning this. If I tell Stella, I'm screwed cause she'll tell Lindsay. Well, Flack's no better. He may shot his mouth off to Stella and I'll be screwed!

Anyway, when's your next soccer game? Aren't you guys in the semi's or something? I'm really excited and you have to call me when you find out your game is. I'll make Mac let me have the day off. Or the two hours off. Whatever, I'll figure it out later.

So, how was your Halloween party since I haven't talked to you since Halloween. No, we did not have any weird cases that day, just a weird movie both me and Lindsay fell asleep during. Oh yeah, and I forgot to take the ring out of my pocket and she almost found out about it.

Anyway, oh look, Mac's here to talk about the case and now he's reading over my shoulder. He says hi and now duty calls.

-D

Date: November 13, 2008

To: dmesser hotmail . com

Subject: Re: God help me!

Lindsay almost found the ring? Are you a complete idiot or do you just not think!? What are you doing still walking around with the ring in your pocket? And why the hell would you tell Flack you were thinking of proposing?! This isn't your week is it?

Let me talk to Kenny. He says he think he can get you in, but he needs to double check. I guess someone owes him too and then I have to pay… I don't know, the guy never gives me a straight answer. I'll give you a call about that later.

Next soccer game is the 18th. So be there or be square. Also, try and get the team to come and watch. It will be great if we can get as many people as we possibly can.

The horror movie must have sucked.

-C

_CSI:NYCSI:NYCSI:NY_

November 14, 2008…

Danny looked over at his computer screen as he listened to the quiet ringing of the phone that was caught between his shoulder and his ear. On one part of the screen, he had his email opened and was quickly scanning an email Cara had sent him the day before. On the other side of the screen was a finger print running through AFIS. The ringing stopped and a voicemail message began playing causing Danny to slam the phone down on the receiver out of frustration. They had about 27 leads that lead to dead ends.

Danny turned his attention back to the email he was reading and smirked at Cara's ending comment. She was right, the movie did suck. There was a soft knock at the door and Danny looked up to see Flack standing there looking very tired.

"Got anything for me?" he asked walking into the office and sitting down in Lindsay's chair.

"Big fat zero," Danny said and he looked at his best friend, "When was the last time you slept?" he asked.

Flack shrugged and closed his eyes, "Maybe 2 days ago," he said.

"You better be careful or you'll turn into Mac," Danny said closing out his email and full screening the AFIS program and he too leaned back in his chair.

Flack opened one of his eyes and through that eye glared at him, "You are hilarious, Messer,"

"I try,"

The two sat in silence for a while until Danny banged his fist against his desk as AFIS showed no match to the finger print they had gotten off of a knife they found at a crime scene, "Another dead end," he growled closing out his program and pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose and looked at Flack. Flack barely responded, just shrugged his shoulders and crossed his arms.

"Thanks buddy…" Danny said pulling the case file closer to him and opening it up. Suddenly, Lindsay scurried into the office with a huge smile on her face and looking very excited.

"I got a hit off of that bracelet you found at the crime scene," Lindsay said pulling the photograph of the bracelet out of a folder and handing it to Danny.

Danny gave it a look, "Yeah, it had some odd inscription in it? What about it?"

"I did a cross reference with credit card numbers and that inscription. A name came up," Lindsay said and Danny sat up looking excited and Flack opened both eyes to hear what Lindsay had to say.

"Walter Fulton. I've got an address. Whose driving?" Lindsay asked with a small smile.

"I'm driving…" Flack said jumping up, suddenly awake now with something to do.

"Shotgun," Danny said and the two men hurried out of the office with Lindsay watching them. She shook her head and her phone went off. Groaning and thinking it was another DOA, she quickly answered it and saw it was a TXT from Cara. Lindsay found the strange and opened the TXT and had to laugh at what it said;

November 18th, 2008

Semi-Final Soccer Game Starfire Fields

Game Time 7:00 sharp.

Be there or be square.

* * *

**Review and I hope you enjoyed!**


	14. November 18

**Alright, I've got to stop with this. I have a history paper to write and I'm updating my story. Don't you guys do that? Gahh... anyway, thank you very much for the adds, favorites, and the reviews. Much appreciated. And side note, Concord High School is an actual school in Staten Island. I don't much about it, so if there is a chance someone goes there, I apologize. **

**All mistakes belong to me. **

**Disclaimer: I own a hand warmer, Jessica, Sam, Cara, and Andrew. **

* * *

Diary Entry 

November 18, 2008

Mood: Where's the nearest bathroom?

Not that I really have to go, but have you ever been so nervous in your life that you think you are going to upchuck everything you had for a midday snack into the nearest place you can upchuck? I have that feeling right now and sitting in my soccer uniform, writing in this diary and staring out the window is not helping like is should be.

Damn it.

Anyway, the WHOLE school is totally excited for the game. I kept walking around the school and I heard "Go Ravens!" "You all Rock!" "DATE ME!"

Okay, the date me one was Andrew, but still!

I would like to met the idiot who thought of a Raven as a mascot cause I want to go and punch the guy. What idiot would pick an annoying bird that looks exactly like a figgen crow? At least it wasn't the pigeon, the city's official bird. I would of drop out of school if our mascot was a pigeon.

Mom and Pop are trying to get me to eat and I know I should be eating, but right now my main concern is my non cooperative stomach. It's not being cooperative and I want to take anti-acids to make it stop talking to me. Sam said that wouldn't be a good idea and she's right. I'll get even sicker if I take anti-acids. I'd die if I took anti-acids.

No I wouldn't. I'm kidding. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge?

Oh never mind.

Anyway, I managed to get the whole CSI team to come to my game. Thank God for mass texting and Mac being so persuaded by my orders to come to my game. Oh yeah, and thanks to me copying down almost every important number in my brother's phone. I am so sneaky.

Anyway, I need to get ready, fill my water bottle, get ready to freeze my ass off cause it's going to be COLD!

I'll update you if we win. Wish us luck!

And why the hell am I asking a diary to wish me luck…

_CSI:NYCSI:NYCSI:NY_

"Will we know what they look like?"

"How many of them are there?"

"Are they approachable?"

"GUYS!"

Cara, Jessica and Sam were standing near the bleachers of the stadium and Sam and Jessica watched Cara pull on her shin guards and socks. Cara was being bombarded with questions from her two friends and pretty much had enough.

"They are normal people who happen to walk around with guns, shields and could figure out if you robbed from the local bodega. There will be nine of them and all of them are the nicest people you will ever meet. Just don't get on the wrong side of the law, then they turn nasty," Cara explained to them as she dug into her sports bag and pulled out a pair of cleats and began forcing them on to her slowly numbing feet.

"Alright, fine. Since you said they are approachable, I'll be giving them these," Jessica said and held out several mini posters that had "Go Ravens" painted on them. One the other side was scribbled the word "Goal!"

Cara looked at the papers and nodded, "Creative," she said trying to keep the sarcasm out of her voice.

Jessica smiled and mumbled, "I know!"

Cara slammed her foot down on the concrete and her cleat slipped onto her foot. She looked over her shoulder to see her team making their way to the bench on the other side of the field and Cara gave her friends a small smile.

"I've got to go get warmed up," Cara said picking her bag up and giving them a small wave and jogging over to where her team now sat. The stands slowly began filling with spectators and by the time the team took the field, more than half of the Raven's side was packed with spectators. Around 10 minutes before the start of the game, the crime lab team walked through the gates of the stadium and went to find seats in the bleachers. Andrew, Jessica and Sam got Danny's attention and pointed to a whole bench in front of them they had saved for the Crime Lab. Danny led them up to the bench and he quickly thanked Andrew for saving them a spot.

"No problem, we just said the police were coming and everyone cleared out," Andrew said with a small smile on his face. Danny shook his head and they turned their attention the team that was warming up on the field, taking shots at the goal. Danny caught his sister running up from behind the goal, a ball at her feet and she picked it up and tossed it to one of her teammates before heading to the top of the goal box.

The team was brought in and they lined up on the sideline where their benches were, the other team doing the same thing. The music that had been playing over the loudspeakers were silenced and an announcer voice came over the speakers to announce the teams.

"Welcome to the 2008 State Semi-Finals! Today, the match will be between the Roosevelt High Tigers," there was a pause to allow the fans from Roosevelt to cheer, "And the Concord High Ravens!" there was a loud explosion from the Raven's side as the spectators yelled out in excitement and support.

"Let's met our starters for the game! First up, the Roosevelt Tigers!" The announcer went though the names of the starters and the Raven's sideline stayed quiet as the names were announced.

"Now, for the Concord Ravens!" the announcer called out and there was another loud yell. "Back in goal, number 18 Katie…"

The announcer went through the names, "Last but not least, forward number 27, Cara Messer!" Cara jogged out to the center of the field were her team stood, her arms waving up and down to get the crowd excited and she jumped into the small circle of 10 girls that was jumping up and down in the middle of the field.

"The Concord Ravens will have the kickoff as the 2008 Semi-Final game begins!" the announcer yelled. Cara and her fellow forward, Tiffany, exchanged looks.

"You think the announcer had one too many beers?" Tiffany asked.

"You think?" Cara said placing her foot on top of the ball and resting her right arm on her thigh. The ref came up, pointed to the specific goals that the players would be attacking, and then blew his whistle. Cara passed it to Tiffany who passed it back to their mid fielder and the game was on. There was much pushing and shoving between the players as they battled to be the first to score. In these types of playoff games, Cara knew that whoever scored a goal first had the advantage. The Ravens got their chance 20 minutes into the first half. While positioning herself for a corner kick, Cara made enemies with one of the defenders for Roosevelt. While waiting for the corner kick, the defender began pushing on Cara's back and Cara kept jabbing her in the stomach with her elbow, making the defender angrier. The corner kick was made and was heading straight to Cara's feet. Before she had time to react, she felt two hands on her back and she fell.

Looking up, the defender was kicking the ball away from the goal when she heard the ref blow his whistle and Tiffany ran over to help her up.

"You alright?" she asked.

"Never better," Cara grumbled shooting a glare to the girl who was trying to pull the innocent look on the ref. The ref awarded the Ravens a Penalty Kick which Cara took. She waited for the ref to blow his whistle and when he did, she took no time in waiting several seconds to take the kick. The ball soared up into the corner of the goal, causing not only the bleachers to explode, but several people came to jump on her and congratulate her on the goal.

The first half finished and the second half began. There were many battles, close calls, and several fouls before the Roosevelt Tigers put on into the goal on a questionable off sides. While many were trying to argue the call, Cara tried to get her team back into position so they could score another goal and not have to deal with a shoot out. Her wish never happened. The second half finished, two 4 minutes overtime went past, and now they were standing in the center circle of the field, waiting impatiently for the ref to call out the first kicker.

To spare everyone the suspense, the Ravens ended up…

_CSI:NYCSI:NYCSI:NY_

"Cara, you played an awesome game. You really kicked ass out there,"

"I would want you on my team any day!"

"Ditto!"

"Guys,"

"What?"

"Stop trying to make me feel better," Cara grumbled as she pushed her Doctor Pepper away from her.

Andrew and Sam sat across from her while some members of the team watched.

"She's devastated," Lindsay commented as they watched the interaction between Andrew, Sam and Cara.

"So close to going to finals and you lose in a shoot out. Harsh way to go if you ask me," Flack said taking a sip of his beer.

"I won't be able to talk normally for a week," Adam grumbled pulling out a cough drop and popping it into his mouth. Kendall held out her hand for one and Adam dropped it in her hand. Their voices were already beginning to go from the continuing screaming they did at the game.

Danny looked at the mozzarella sticks that were sitting in front of them and pushed them down to where the teenagers were sitting. Andrew offered Cara one and she shook her head.

"Not hungry," she mumbled.

"Car, you've got to eat something," Danny said to his little sister who shrugged and picked one up and took a bite. She gave him a look and Danny nodded a thank you before turning his attention back to his coffee.

"Well, semi-finals, I have to admit that's pretty good," Hawkes said taking a sip of his coffee.

"You try explaining that to a 17 year old whose skin is almost as thick as mine," Danny said also taking a sip.

"Did I just hear Messer admit he had thick skin?" Flack questioned raising his eyebrow causing Danny to chuck a French fry at his face.

"Harsh, Danny, harsh," Flack commented picking the fry from his lap and popping it into his mouth.

Kendall and Lindsay exchanged looks of disgust and both took sips of their beverages. The three teens stood up and Andrew placed a 20 down on the table, "We're going to head, alright?" he said pointing to the door.

Danny nodded and Cara mimed that she would call him before the teens made an exit. The adults looked at one another and sighed.

"At least it was a good game. I need to see more of those high school games. You forget how much dedication people actually put into these sports," Adam stated reaching for the final mozzarella stick and taking a bite out of it.

Danny nodded, "It was a good game, I actually think Mac enjoyed it,"

"He was cheering and everything. I even think he commended the ref under his breath," Lindsay said. The group laughed trying to picture their boss disagreeing with the ref.

Adam and Kendall both stood up said their goodnights and headed out the door of the small restaurant. Flack looked at his watch and stretched, "I better get going. I'm on call starting at 5," he said standing up, pulling out a 10 and throwing it on the table before he left.

"We should get going," Lindsay said to the two remaining men and they nodded in agreement. Standing up, they all left 5's on the table and left the restaurant for the drive back to Manhattan.

* * *

**Alright, now we are going to head into December. November was mainly used to wrap up the soccer finals soo... hope you enjoyed and please review. **


	15. December 12

**Alright... another short chapter. Danny Cara brotherly/sisterly love going on here. This is for many people who want to know a little about the proposal. I get asked all the time... Thank You very much for the reviews, alerts and favorites. You all rock. **

**All mistakes are mine. **

**Disclaimer: I own Cara and some other people. **

* * *

To: dmesser hotmail . com

Date: December 12, 2008

Subject: You better hurry up boy…

As the subject says, what are you going to do, you've got 13 days till Christmas and you still don't know when/how you are going to propose to Lindsay. You said sometime December and BUDDY WE ARE ALMOST HALFWAY THROUGH DECEMBER! And no I am not stressed out for Christmas gifts. To be honest, I caught a cold and I'm miserable. So there.

Leave me alone.

Anyway, Christmas time is definitely here. I've already been to Rockefeller Center twice to see the Christmas tree. Very nice this year may I say. Well, when is it never nice?

Anyway…

Kenny says no go on Rockefeller Center… I am SO sorry! Maybe Central Park… or the Empire State Building… Or the storage room… Or Coney Island… Or your office…

Okay, I know you won't go for the Coney Island business, but I'm throwing out ideas here, leave me alone. Nor will I go to the storage/office room business.

We need to get together to discuss this, really, we do. Coffee at Starbucks this weekend? Cause I'm on as long as you buy. Anyway, got to go finish that homework. Yippy…

Love ya,

Cara

_CSI:NYCSI:NYCSI:NY_

Cara could not believe it. She had been waiting for over 20 minutes now and her brother had not bothered to show his face. Leaning back in her seat, her fingers tapped against the table of the table she sat at in the Starbucks. Surprisingly enough, the Starbucks was practically empty and the barista kept looking over at Cara as he absent mindedly wiped the services of the Starbucks. She felt her phone vibrate against her leg. She pulled it out against her pocket, glanced at Caller ID and answered.

"Hello,"

"Cara, guess who?" came a very excited voice.

"Hm…" Cara grumbled looking out the window of the Starbucks.

"It's Kristin! The long lost friend who is now moving back to New York," Kirstin said.

Cara forgot about her brother problems for a second and her mouth dropped, "You serious?"

"Yup,"

"No way! When?" Cara asked.

"Next month, I'll be back for the start of the new school year," Kristin said. Cara nodded and took note of her accent.

"So… Washington definitely changed your accent. What has it done to you?!" Cara asked.

"Nothing much really. Really wet over here, ah… boring. Living in Redmond sucks! And… I would much rather be up there right now than down here hitting my head against the wall," Kristin said.

"Washington can't be that bad. Did you have any interesting experiences?" Cara asked.

There was an awkward pause before Kristin answered with a short no. Cara rolled her eyes and spotted her brother walking past the Starbucks.

"Kristin, can I call you back…" Cara asked standing up and heading out of the Starbucks.

"Yeah sure, talk to ya later," Kristin said and Cara snapped her phone shut as she jogged down the sidewalk to catch up with her brother.

"Danny! Wait up!" Cara called out jogging up to walk side by side with her brother. Danny looked at her, than back at the Starbucks she had come out of.

"You meant that one?" he asked pointing at the Starbucks behind them. Cara nodded and waved her hand,

"No problem. Any way, you've got any ideas yet for what you are going to do about the proposal," she asked giving the last word in the sentence a little accent.

Danny shoved his hands in his pocket and shrugged, "I'm at a loss here, Cara. I've been pacing around, trying to think. Lindsay thinks I'm worried about a case we closed about a week ago," Danny said.

Cara gave a small nod and they continued to walk in silence toward Central Park.

"Are you two living together?" Cara asked. Danny nodded and Cara bit her lip in thought.

"Plan to get a Christmas tree?" She asked.

Danny gave her a look, and shook his head, "I haven't thought about that…"

"Get a Christmas tree!" she exclaimed and jumped in front of Danny and began walking backwards and talking fast, "Then… you get the ring box and stick it in the tree between the ornaments!"

Danny stopped, looked at his sister and smiled, "You are a genius!"

"I know…" Cara said with a huge smile and Danny swung his arm around her shoulder.

"Now… Don't I owe you a Starbucks?" Danny asked as they headed back out of Central Park.

* * *

**Please Review and I hope you enjoyed. **


	16. Christmas Eve and Day

**Alright, sorry this took me so long to update. I finally finished my history essay, and now my teachers thought it would be hilarious to stick on two more essays. Lovely. Anyway, this is the moment of truth! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**All mistakes belong to me. **

* * *

Diary Entry

December 24, 2008

Mood: December 24, 9 pm Eastern Standard time…

Do you know how much I **love **that musical? Best musical ever written. Anyway, it's December 24, I just got back from 9pm Christmas Mass (hehe… I cheat) and now I am totally ready for Christmas. Everything's wrapped, got Danny and Lindsay's gift to them yesterday and gave Danny a _hard_ slap on the back for good luck…

You know right? Hope you do otherwise you have not been paying attention.

Anywhoo's, sleep sounds real good right now. Even though listening to Christmas music mixed with rock and roll sounds good too. I think I drank way to much eggnog. Mom always warned me about that stuff. Ahh… my bed looks so comfortable and I'm so tired. So I shall go to bed. Night all and Merry Christmas.

_CSI:NYCSI:NYCSI:NY_

Lindsay woke up the next morning to feel Danny's side of the bed cold. Opening one of her eyes, she groaned and sat up and looked around the room. It took her a couple of moments to notice that today was Christmas, she was not working; neither was Danny, and she had the whole day at home, in the apartment. With him.

Definitely one of her better Christmases.

She climbed out of the bed and grabbed a NYPD sweatshirt that was draped over one of the chairs in Danny's bedroom and headed out to the living room. Standing near the window was Danny, a cup off coffee in his hands and his head resting against the cooling window. Lindsay walked up behind him and he turned around.

"Merry Christmas," he said with a smile which Lindsay returned.

"What are you doing up so early?" Lindsay asked heading into the kitchen and pouring herself some coffee too.

Danny shrugged, "To be honest, I thought I was working," he said.

Lindsay snickered and looked over at the tree, "Looks very nice,"

Danny nodded, "I did a good job didn't I?" he asked.

"Very good job," Lindsay answered and peaked him on the lips, "Merry Christmas," she said before shuffling over to the couch and sitting down. Danny stuck his mug in the sink and shuffled over to where Lindsay was sitting. He decided he wanted to take his time and not rush this day. He had one chance and he wanted to make sure he got that chance and if it took him all day, it would take him all day. After several moments of silence before the phone rang. Danny gave the phone a look before he stood up to answer it. No one ever called his land line… except Cara.

"Hello. Oh! Merry Christmas Mrs. Monroe. No, yes… Heather. Yes, she's right here, hold on," Danny covered the receiver and handed it to Lindsay, "It's your mother," he said.

Lindsay gave a look, and then looked at the clock to see it was 8. Confused she took the phone, "Merry Christmas, mom. What are you doing up so early?" After a long phone conversation not only with her mother, but her sister, brother, and several nieces and nephews, she hung up the phone with a small laugh.

"Large family?" Danny asked as she sat down next to him.

"Getting bigger by the second. Oh well, it was nice to talk with everyone, even the 14 month old niece," Lindsay said with a small smile, "Wait! It's Christmas morning and we haven't even exchanged gifts!" she exclaimed and got up and hurried over to the tree.

Danny groaned, "We can wait, Montana, we have all day," he said.

Lindsay turned and stuck her tongue out at him and continued to the tree. Danny stood up and followed her and sat down next to her; watching her pull out a small gift from the base of the tree. She picked it up and handed it to him and gave him a nod.

Danny looked at it and Lindsay rolled her eyes, "It's not going to unwrap itself," she stated and Danny jumped a little before running his fingers over the taped edges, gently ripping the wrapping paper off the small box. Inside the box were two tickets to a game. He picked up one of the tickets and printed on the ticket was the name of two football teams, a time, and a date.

"No way, Giants tickets?" Danny asked looking up at Lindsay in complete surprise.

Lindsay shrugged, "I thought you would like them," she said as Danny scouted over closer to her and kissed her.

"Thanks," he murmured against her lips.

"No problem," she said.

In the small silence, there was a rustle of ornaments against the tree and a thunk. Lindsay looked up at the tree and stood up, "What was that…?" she asked looking at the tree.

Danny swore under his breath, knowing exactly what that sound was. He inched toward the tree and looked underneath. Near the trunk of the tree sat a blue box, nestled against the tree needles and cloth. He reached underneath the tree and grabbed it. Pulling the box out, he held it enclosed in the palm of his hand and looked up at Lindsay, whose hands were on her hips.

"What was that?" she asked.

Danny opened his mouth and in the back of his mind thought, "This isn't how I pictured it…" and he ignored his head and went with his heart.

"Lindsay. You've been through me with thick and thin. I've chased you to Montana and back. Lindsay Monroe," he took a deep breath, "Will you marry me?" he asked and held out the box and opened it revealing a small, diamond ring nestled on a small pillow.

Lindsay covered her mouth with her hands and Danny could see the tears forming in her eyes. She gave a small nod.

Danny looked at Lindsay, "Yes?" he asked quietly, hoping he read her body language correctly.

She nodded again, "Yes… yes!" she said and wrapped her arms around his neck, catching him off guard causing both of them to crash to the ground. Lindsay was on top of Danny, her head buried in his shoulder. She looked at him and nodded again and their lips met again. Danny pulled the ring out of the box and Lindsay held out her left hand and Danny slipped the ring on her finger.

"I love you, Cowboy," Lindsay said as Danny pulled her on top of him.

"This is the best Christmas, ever," Danny whispered wrapping his arms around her waist and holding her close.

* * *

**Poor Danny, he was hoping it would go perfectly. :D Please Review!**


	17. December 31

**Okay... next chapter here we go. Thanks to all the reviews on the last chapter and hello to the lurkers who came out! Hi! Just a little New Years fun. Enjoy. **

**Disclaimer: I own a Jeff Dunham CD and a prius... but it's black (there you go kristin)**

**All mistakes are mine. **

* * *

To: dmesser hotmail . com

Date: December 31, 2008

Subject: Sorry…

Hey new man who is about to get married! How's it going? Hope you had a good Christmas and did you like my gift? I noticed you ran out of that tequila months ago… :D

Anyway… Happy 'early' New Year, even though I'll probably see you before you even read this email. Andrew and I can still crash at your place after Times Square, right? I know all the rules and so does he so you don't have to worry about us, we'll behave.

Well… I guess I have to get going since it's almost 10 o'clock. I'll see you in a half hour maybe? And maybe you'll get this email before I get to your place. Hopefully you will.

-Cara.

_CSI:NYCSI:NYCSI:NY_

Cara sat in Danny's office, her feet up on the desk, a thick, red book in her lap, and her earphones where stuck in her ears. She was mouthing the words to one of her favorite songs, _High School Never Ends_, by Bowling for Soup. She looked up as she quickly turned a page and rested her head against the chair. She snapped the book shut and set it down on her brother's desk. She pulled out her cell phone, took a quick look at the front screen and shoved it back in her pocket. She reached for her iPod and turned up the volume hoping to drown out her thought process and maybe ruin her eardrums.

Danny walked into his office to see Cara still in the same place he had left her. He dropped his case file down on the desk and sat down in Lindsay's seat.

"Weren't you supposed to meet Andrew sometime?" Danny asked.

Cara shrugged, "He was supposed to call me… but I guess he forgot how to dial a phone number," she grumbled. She pointed to the red book she had been reading, "Very interesting. Have you read that book?" she asked.

Danny grabbed the thick book and looked at the title that was printed on the spine of the book, "I read this book in collage and found it boring. It's all about how to work with video and audio evidence, but this is an outdated version. Why were you reading this?" he asked.

Cara shrugged, "I was bored," she stated.

"Bored. No, you weren't bored, you are insane," Danny said sliding the book over to his little sister who grabbed it and stuck it back on the book shelf.

"So… Danny, what's it like knowing you are going to get married?" Cara asked sitting down on the chair and giving him a smile.

Danny groaned, "You have to bug me about that all the time?" he asked.

Cara shrugged, "You never game me an answer! What do you except me to do?" she asked.

"Not bug me about it," Danny said sitting back in his chair.

"Oh come on… At least tell me when you are planning to have the wedding?!" Cara said leaning her elbows on the desk and cocking her head slightly to the side and smiling.

"June,"

"After graduation,"

"Yes, ma'am," Danny said leaning back and giving her a fake salute. Cara rolled her eyes and suddenly reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. She answered it, gave a few yes's and hung up.

"Andrew finally got his butt into the city. We can still stay at your place tonight right?" Cara asked standing up and shoving her phone back in her pocket.

"Fine with me, just no…"

"Okay! I get it, not inappropriate contact. Got it, I'll see you later," Cara said and quickly left the office with Danny giving a slight wave to her retreating back. Adam practically ran into the office, bumping into Cara who said, "Hey Adam," and he stopped in the office, "I got a hit off that DNA sample and I have an address," Adam said very excited.

"Thank God, maybe I can actually get home before the New Year starts this time," Danny said grabbing the paper from Adam and giving him a pat on the back before going to find Angell.

_CSI:NYCSI:NYCSI:NY_

Cara practically ran down the crowded streets to find the subway station to head down to Times Square. She paid her fee, boarded the subway and headed off to Times Square. She got off the train 15 minutes later and hurried up the stairs passing by the many people who gave her looks for being in such a hurry. She rolled her eyes, "Damn, some people don't understand that some of us are in a hurry," she thought to herself and she scanned the crowd for any signs of her friends.

Grabbing her phone, she dialed the familiar phone number and held the phone to her ear, "Andrew, were the heck are you?"

"Look near the Jamba Juice," came his voice on the phone and Cara looked for a Jamba Juice.

"Alright, give me a minute and I'll be there in a second," She said and hung up the phone. Cara made her way through the crowd and found her friends hanging out outside the Jamba Juice and Andrew's back was turned to her. She pressed her finger against her lips to keep her two friends quiet and snuck up behind Andrew and covering his eyes with her hands.

"Guess who?" she asked.

"Hmm… Bob Dylan," he said taking her hands off his eyes and pulling her into the circle that the group of friends created.

"How did you know?" Cara asked wrapping an arm around his waist.

"I guessed…" Andrew said and the group laughed.

"Hey! How's Danny and his new fiancée?" Sam asked.

"Fine, Sam, they are perfectly fine," Cara said laughing.

"Kristin's coming back!" Jessica yelled throwing her hands up in the air causing the whole group to cheer.

Another one of her guy friends by the name of Luke looked especially happy when Jessica mentioned this. Cara knew for forever that Luke had a huge crush on Kristin and was devastated when she moved to Washington. Cara smiled at Luke and he gave a small celebration dance that was not noticed by anyone except Cara.

The group slowly moved to the center of Times Square, lining up to watch the ball drop. People were already there, talking, laughing and some guy had brought a boom box so they ended up dancing along to the techno, rock and rap that he had in his CD collection. The skies darkened and Times Square got louder as midnight slowly approached. The group of teenagers got excited as midnight drew closer and the year drew to an end. They got excited as the ball began to drop and 2009 began. Andrew gave Cara a quick peck on the lips.

The group of friends began making their way out of Times Square, laughing and screaming 'Happy New Year' into the skyscrapers that reached into blacken night. Andrew and Cara said goodbye to their friends and they headed to Danny's place still laughing. They stopped at a corner store where they grabbed a few drinks and while they were paying two detectives walked into the store. Cara looked up and shook her head.

"How come I always run into adults I know? Mainly people from the NYPD?" Cara asked as she shoved a 10 dollar bill toward the cashier who proceeded to make change.

"Why?" Andrew asked looking at the two detectives who were now by the coffee machine.

"That's Detective Flack and Angell. Danny works with them during cases. Danny's known Flack for ages and Angell's pretty new to the CSI bit," Cara explained to Andrew and grabbed the change from the cashier's hand, "Let's get out of here,"

The two teenagers grabbed their bottles of drinks and were heading out of the before they were stopped.

"Messer? I never imagined you as a party person," came a male voice from behind her.

Cara stopped, groaned, and turned on her heel to face Flack, "Hey, Flack, why aren't you at home drinking beer?" she asked.

"Oh, Angell and I just happen to be in the area and we thought, 'Hey, why don't we get dressed in our detective stuff and get some coffee for New Year,'" Flack answered, "What are you doing here?"

"Times Square," was all Cara said giving Andrew a side look and smiling.

"Ahh… fun, we were just there. Small scuffle broke out and we had to help the rookies," Angell said taking a sip of her coffee.

"Okay… we are heading to Danny's apartment so we can sleep. I'll see you later…" Cara said waving goodbye to the two Detectives and pulling Andrew out of the store.

"Not awkward at all…" he stated as they headed toward Danny's apartment building. They were still talking quietly as Cara knocked at the door and they waited for someone to answer. Danny opened the door; rubbing his eyes and looking at the two.

"Look who finally decided to show up," he grumbled and opened the door wider to let the two teenagers in.

"Sorry… we got caught up with your friends," Cara said as they entered.

"My friends?" Danny asked closing the door and locking it.

"Yes, Angell and Flack. We stopped to get something to drink," she held up the half empty Vitamin Water, "and we talked for a couple of minutes," she explained kicking off her shoes and setting the drink down on a table.

Danny nodded, "Alright, well… the couch is set up and there are sleeping bags ready. You know the rules and I'm going to bed… now. Night," Danny said and disappeared into his room. Cara looked over at Andrew and they shuffled over to the couch were they fell asleep.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed and please review.  
**


	18. January 10, 2009

**Hey guys... I wrote two chapters last night and now I'm posting. Thanks for the reviews. Oh yeah, P.S. There is A LOT of swearing on Cara's part... **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. **

**All mistakes are mine. **

* * *

Diary Entry

Date: January 10, 2009

Mood: Oh shit…

I got myself in so much trouble today. Me and Kristin… gah… never trust us to together. Trouble… trouble, I am hitting my head against the wall right now. This sucks… sucks…. sucks… sucks… shit, fuck, damn it, fuck it, screw it, damn, shit…

Sorry… needed to get that out of my system. I'm going to go outside… though it's freezing cold and snowing, and I'm going to go get my frustrations out by chucking a baseball at the shed. Should be fun and piss off my parents. I need this now.

_CSI:NYCSI:NYCSI:NY_

Cara and Kristin sat in a Starbucks, drinking their coffee and talking.

"Come on, please lets do something," Kristin said setting down her Starbucks and shifted slightly in her seat.

"Kristin, we've done everything that you wanted to do. Let's see a movie, Transformers is out, it should be good," Cara said waving her hand around.

"No, lets do something fun… let's go to the lab," Kristin said.

"The lab? You've got to be kidding me," Cara said leaning back in her chair.

"I'm not kidding you… let's go, it should be fun,"

"There is nothing to do there," Cara said rubbing her forehead and looking at her friend.

Kristin shrugged, "Please…" she asked giving her a puppy dog look.

Cara rolled her eyes and gently sat down her cup of Starbucks on the table. Rubbing her forehead, she nodded, "Fine, yes. I'll bring you,"

Kristin gave a small smile and they left the Starbucks and set down the street toward the lab. They entered the lobby area of the building and they slipped behind several large men who could hide them with ease. They headed into the elevator and Cara quickly shut the elevator door and pressed the button to the 35th floor. Kristin shot her a look as Cara relaxed on the side of the elevator.

"What?" she asked.

"What was that all about?" Kristin asked adjusting her small bag on her shoulder.

"They have a list of people who are visiting for the day and if you are not on that list, don't expect to get in," Cara explained.

"Oh…" Kristin mumbled and the elevator opened to the lab. Cara and Kristin entered the lab and Cara grabbed Kristin's arm and pulled her toward Danny's office so they could drop off their stuff and do some exploring without having to worry about anything. The team seemed to be in a meeting in the conference room leaving the two girls without having to worry about any CSI's bugging them. All they had to worry about was the lab techs who might get curious.

They entered the A/V lab and found Adam looking through security tapes.

"Hey Adam!" Cara said sitting down next to him.

"Hey Cara," he grumbled not looking away from the computer screens.

"Whatcha doin'? Kristin asked sitting next to Cara.

"We're working a high profile case and I have to look through the security cameras," Adam answered sticking a pen in his mouth and typing in a few commands into the computer, the tape zooming in on a specific person.

Cara nodded and sat on the edge of her chair and cocked her head, "Fun?"

"It is pretty fun," Adam said before taking the pen out of his mouth and writing something else down.

"Alright, have fun with that, Adam," Cara said standing up and patting him on the shoulder, "See ya later!"

The two teenagers scurried out of the lab and walked around for a bit before Kristin decided it was time for something else.

"Let's go down to the ME's office," Kristin said.

Cara stopped at this suggestion, "I don't know, Kristin. I'm not allowed down there and I think it would be a bad idea," she said.

"Oh come on, it would be fun," Kristin said grabbing Cara's arm and dragging her down to the ME's office. They opened the door and what Cara first noticed was the lack of noise coming from inside the morgue.

"You know… I'm really beginning to think this is a bad idea," Cara said as they walked in and saw that none of the ME's were there, "Yup, this is a bad idea," she whispered.

Kristin shook her head and looked around, "Oh come on. There are no dead bodies here. See," she pointed to the examining tables.

"Yeah, except that one," Cara said pointing to a table at the end of the office. Kristin smiled and began walking towards it.

"What are you doing?" Cara asked.

"I'm just going to take a peak…" Kristin said.

"No! Kristin, this is a bad idea!" Cara said, but Kristin got to the table first and she pulled back the cloth. Kristin jumped back at the sight of the dead body and Cara groaned and buried her face in her hands. Kristin swore under her breath and the two girls stood frozen in the place for several moments before they heard a door open and close.

"Shit! Hammerback. Kristin! Cover the body and let's get the hell out of here!" Cara whispered to Kristin who just as she reached over to pull the cloth back over the body, Hammerback walked in and stopped where he was.

"What the…"

Cara quickly turned around and groaned, "Hey… Sid…"

"My office. Now." he stated pointing to his office. Cara looked back at Kristin who stood frozen over the body and they slowly walked to the office. Sid followed several moments later and mentioned them to sit down at the two small chairs that sat in front of his desk.

"What are you two doing down here?" Sid asked setting down his lunch bag on his desk and pulling off his beanie.

"Exploring," Kristin said.

"Shut up, Kristin," Cara shot at her and leaned back in her chair. Cara knew how much trouble she could get in, but Kristin didn't.

Sid sighed and reached for the phone.

"Sid, what are you doing?" Cara asked sitting up and looking at the phone, then at Sid.

"Calling Mac, he needs to know about this," Sid said picking up the phone and dialing a few numbers before holding it to his ear.

"Great, being hammered by Hammerback," Cara grumbled. They sat in silence as Sid said a few words, told the girls not to move and left the office. Cara and Kristin sat in complete silence and Kristin kept giving Cara upset looks, which Cara never saw. 10 minutes later, Sid and Mac walked into the office. Mac looked at Cara then Kristin and shook his head.

"You know… you can get yourself in a lot of trouble, and you can screw up a case when you do that," Mac told the two.

"Compromising evidence, I know, I know," Cara mumbled looking down at her feet.

Mac shook his head, "I expected more out of you, Cara. Not this. You know, that body could belong to any case. You were lucky, that was a suicide, but it could have been a high profile case. You could have been the reason autopsy results were deemed compromised because of your decision…"

"Detective! It's my fault!" Kristin suddenly spoke up causing Mac, Sid, and Cara to look at her.

"I was the one who suggested going down here, seeing a dead body. Cara was trying to get me out of it, but I would listen to her. I'm sorry, it's my fault, not hers," she said.

Mac nodded and Sid said he would bring them up to Mac's office.

"Mac, can I talk to you for a second?" she asked as Sid and Kristin walked out.

"Yes?" he asked.

"I screwed up didn't I?" she asked looking at him and rubbing her hands together.

Mac shrugged, "It's what you think your idea of screwing up is?" he said.

Cara sighed, "Don't tell Danny, please. He doesn't need to know. This was my mistake and I need to fix it," she said.

Mac nodded, "I won't tell him, I promise,"

Cara nodded, "Thanks, Mac." she again sighed, "I guess I'll be going,"

"Kristin's parent's will have to be notified. I'll let you go because I trust you," Mac said, "Just go straight home," he said.

"Thank you so much, Mac. I promise, this will never happen again," she said and hurried out of the office.

Mac sighed and dug his hands in his pockets, "Like brother like sister,"

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed and please review!**


	19. January 17, 2009

**I've really got to stop doing this. This should be the last update for a couple of days and I'll update again! Thanks to all of the reviews and keep reviewing too! I want to know what you are thinking. **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. **

**All mistakes are mine. **

* * *

Diary Entry 

January 17, 2009

Mood: I don't have ADD…

So out of it let me tell you. I'm snowed in at Danny's place… damn blizzards, always a ton of fun when you want to go somewhere but you can't. I was supposed to be here for only a day, and now I'm going to be here for the next three years cause of all the damn snow. O h well…

Danny decided to be hell to me today… little buster. Sid told Danny about my mistake in the morgue and he gave me hell for it. I apologized, he accepted, and now we are friends again. It's all good.

So, I'm now writing with Danny's purple pen again…

"Cara!"

And writing on a post it note…

"Cara!"

And trying to ignore my brother…

"Your hot chocolate is ready! If you want it get your ass in here!"

Never mind. Hot chocolate.

Cara put down her pen and tore off the post it note off the top and stuffed it in her pocket and hurried into the kitchen. She grabbed the mug that sat on the counter and jumped up to sit on the counter and smiled. Danny rolled his eyes and grabbed another hot chocolate packet and poured it into another mug, and pushed it to the side as he grabbed another one.

"Well… I don't think I'm going to church tomorrow," Cara said looking out the window as the snowflakes began falling faster and faster.

Danny shrugged, "I don't think you'll be going anywhere for awhile," Danny mumbled taking a sip of his hot chocolate and he reached for his phone. He quickly read a TXT message and reached for another mug and packet of hot chocolate.

"Lindsay coming?" Cara asked.

"Yeah," Danny said and at that precise moment, they head keys in the lock and the door quickly open and close. In front of them stood a frozen Lindsay, her coat almost white with the amount of snow on it. Danny walked over to help her out, but Cara just laughed.

"Could you wait three seconds? I want a picture!" Cara asked pulling her phone out and jumping down from the counter. She hurried over and Danny grabbed her phone from her, stuffed it in his pocket, and began helping get the jacket off of Lindsay. Cara decided to help to. She grabbed the jacket and slowly headed toward the bathroom. Danny tossed her a look.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm putting this in the bathtub," Cara said and disappeared behind the door. Lindsay pulled off her freezing sweatshirts she had underneath the jacket and quickly ran her hands against her arms.

"I think I'm going to go and change," Lindsay whispered.

"Go take a shower. I'll get some soup and hot chocolate ready," Danny said pushing her towards the bathroom where Cara was brushing off the remaining snow into the tub. She stopped, smiled and hurried out and disappeared into Danny's room to hang the jacket up and Lindsay closed the bathroom door. Cara came back out and watched as Danny went through the cabinets.

"What are you looking for?" she asked.

"Soup,"

"Cabinet next to the refrigerator," Cara said as the land line phone began ringing. Danny looked up,

"Could you get that?" Danny asked and Cara nodded bounding over to the phone and picked it up.

"Hello, Cara Messer speaking for Danny Messer who is looking for some soup because he doesn't know his own kitchen," Cara said earning a glare from Danny. She just gave him a smile.

"Is Lindsay there?" came a female voice on the other line.

"No, she's in the shower right now, can I take a message?" Cara asked picking up a pen and a scrap piece of paper that caught her eye.

"Could you tell her that her mother wants to talk to her about a couple of things?" the woman asked that Cara now assumed, based on obvious statements, that the woman was Lindsay's mother.

"Alrighty, I'll tell her when she gets out," Cara said writing something down.

"Thank you very much,"

"No problem, bye," Cara said and hung up the phone. Danny was pulling off the top of the soup can when Cara shuffled back into the kitchen.

"What was that all about?" Danny asked

"I think that was Lindsay's mother, she wanted to talk to her," Cara said holding out the scrap piece of paper for Danny to read;

_Dear Lindsay, _

_This is Cara, but your mother is calling so I am assuming this has to do with your wedding. If I were you, I would run…_

_NOW!_

_Cara_

Danny looked up from the paper and smacked Cara upside the head. Cara rubbed the side of her head and Lindsay shuffled out of the bathroom wrapped in a NYPD sweatshirt and sweatpants.

"Hey Lindsay, your mother called," Cara said handing her the piece of paper which Lindsay read and laughed.

"I have to agree with you on that one. Ever since I told you she's been bugging me about it. Right now, all we know is that the wedding is going to be in June," Lindsay said.

"After school finishes," Cara said grabbing her mug and taking a sip.

"How did you get home anyway? It's the Yukon out there," Danny asked handing Lindsay a mug of hot chocolate and returning his attention to heating up the soup.

"The subway and a lot of trudging through snow," Lindsay said taking a sip, "There is no way I was spending the night at the lab," she mumbled.

"See, Danny! I told you it was perfectly safe to head home, but you said no…" Cara said. Danny raised an eyebrow at her and continued to stir the soup that was in the pot.

"Okay… I guess it isn't too safe to go out in this snow," Cara said taking her place back on the kitchen counter.

"Got that right, munchkin," Danny said grabbing a cereal bowl from the cabinet and pouring some in and handing it to Lindsay who gladly accepted.

Cara watched the two talk for a little while before jumping down from the counter and heading into the living room to turn the TV on. Lindsay and Danny continued their conversation before they heard a loud groan from the living room.

"Danny! You still got those two sleeping bags?" she yelled from living room.

"Yeah, why?" Danny call back.

"I'm going to be stuck here for awhile…" she said. Danny peaked in and saw Cara sitting in front of the couch, hitting her head against the coffee table.

"Weather, huh?" Lindsay asked.

"Got that right," Danny said.

Lindsay shrugged and looked back at the note that Cara wrote for her, "I think I should call my parents," she mumbled reaching for the phone and dialing the familiar phone number. She held the phone up to her ear and waited for someone to answer.

"Hey mom… yeah hi. I was told you call me,"

45 minutes later, Lindsay joined Danny and Cara who were watching football reruns on ESPN.

"You were right, Cara," Lindsay said.

"I was?" Cara looked back at Lindsay in surprise.

"I should run," Lindsay mumbled causing Cara to laugh into her hot chocolate and Danny wraped an arm around Lindsay's shoulders as they waited out the blizzard outside.

* * *

**Please review and enjoy!**


	20. February 5, 2009

**Longer chapter than usual. Angst, fun stuff. All good. Just a small little case to mix things up. Thanks for all those wonderful reviews during my 4 chapter writing mood. I never knew my brain held that many little ideas:)**

**Disclaimer: CSI:NY belongs to CBS... sadly. **

**All mistakes are mine. **

* * *

Diary Entry

Date: February 5, 2009

Mood: Scared beyond belief.

I swear, I thought this Tanglewood business was over! No, it isn't, damn it. Andrew, Sam, Luke and me were walking home from a movie when Luke was jumped by a Pelican boy. A Pelican boy and I am NOT kidding about this. What Pelican Boy in his right mind comes over to Tanglewood territory? That right there is suicide.

On with the story, so after that Pelican kid jumped Luke, Andrew tried to get him off, unsuccessfully considering now I'm sitting in the hospital waiting for any news on his condition. The kid pulled a knife and then another one came up behind Sam and me. This one wasn't as smart cause he went for Sam first and I took him out with ease. It's nice to know a few moves. I knew listening to Danny would actually help me out one day.

I ended up getting cut though on my arm. Pretty deep too. 15 stitches on my left arm and I have to have it wrapped until I can get the fricken stitches out.

Now to finish the story, so we get jumped, try to fight these Pelican guys off and we managed too but before we could just run and get out, we heard two gunshots. Before we could do anything, the two guys were down and not moving. All I remember was Andrew grabbing me, telling me to run and the next thing I knew I was at Andrew's house, trying to stop the bleeding on my arm before the cops knocked on the door.

That's when Andrew collapsed because of his injuries and we were both taken to the hospital.

Danny is going to have a field day.

_CSI:NYCSI:NYCSI:NY_

Cara sat on a hospital bed, her legs swinging gently off the side of the bed. She looked at her now stitched wound she got from being jumped by the Pelican Boys. Her arm was still sore and the doctors said she had torn some muscles in her arm from the knifing.

Wonderful.

Gently flexing her fingers, she noticed they didn't have full extension and sighed. She had called Danny 10 minutes earlier and he said he would be right over. Hopefully. She looked up when she heard the curtains to the small room she was sitting in. Danny stood at the end of the bed shaking his head.

"What the heck did you do?" Danny asked sitting down next to her and wrapping an arm around Cara's shoulders.

"We were jumped by two Pelican kids. It scared the crap out of me, I have no idea how it happened. We were walking in a lighted area, nothing seemed different… I don't know what happened," she said, now beginning to shake.

"I just talked with Andrew's parents…"

"How is he? He collapsed at the house when the cops came to the place…"

"Still in surgery," Danny told her, not sugar coating the reality.

Cara bounced a little, trying to hold back the tears, "What about Sam and Luke?"

"Sam's fine. Just a couple of bruises. Luke broke his arm, he'll be fine though," Danny explained to her and Cara nodded.

"The two Pelican boys died…"

"What?!"

"Yeah, they died on scene and you four where the only eye witnesses. Did you see anyone at the scene? Anyone besides you four?" Danny asked Cara who shook her head quickly.

"I heard gunshots. Two of them and then Andrew dragged me out and we didn't look back until we got back to Andrew's house. He was looking really pale and I was trying to stop the bleeding on my arm. It all happened so fast, Danny, I don't know what to think of it," She told him gently running her fingers over her stitches.

Danny nodded, "Mac, Hawkes and Lindsay are at the scene. They'll figure out what happened," he said and Cara nodded.

The doctor walked in minutes later with a small smile on his face, "Miss Messer, the only thing left to address is your cut on your arm. It was very deep, cutting through some muscle tissue so after you get the stitches out of your arm you are going to have to do physical therapy to regain your strength and motion in your arm," The doctor paused and pulled out a medicine bottle out of his lab coat pocket, "You are also going to need to take these. They'll minimize the pain for the next week to 2 weeks," he explained.

"Thanks, doc," Danny said as the doctor said something about getting the discharge papers and leaving the room.

"You'll be fine," Danny said holding Cara close to him, "Everything will be okay,"

_CSI:NYCSI:NYCSI:NY_

Cara sat in the waiting room, a magazine in her lap. She wasn't exactly reading the magazine, just staring at the pictures of some waterfall in Africa. Not that she really cared at that point in time. Andrew had been in surgery for the past hour and a half and nothing came out. Danny had gratefully said yes to staying with her and Andrew's parents were standing on the other side of the waiting room, talking quietly with one another. Cara looked up from the magazine to see Danny coming with a cup of coffee in his hand and he handed it to Cara.

"Thought you would need it," he said sitting down next to her, "What are you reading?"

"National Geographic," Cara stated shifting slightly in her chair. Danny nodded slightly and looked up to see the doctor that was taking care of Andrew walking toward Andrew's parents. Cara took a sip of her coffee when she heard a loud shriek from across the room. Looking up, she saw Andrew's mother face hidden in her husband's shoulder while the father thanked the doctor and turned to his wife. Cara looked at the couple, than she looked at Danny.

"What's going on?" she asked, a small rock forming in her stomach as she formed the words.

"I don't know…" Danny said sitting up straighter. Andrew's father walked over to the two siblings.

"Andrew's out of surgery and he'll be fine. My wife is seeing him right now, if you want to see him," his father said and beckoned Cara to follow him. Cara stood up and looked at Danny who nodded and she followed him down the hallway of the hospital.

"Sorry about my wife, she gets a little over the top when it comes to Andrew. Sorry if that yell frightened you," he explained. Cara opened her mouth to dismiss the apology, but nothing came out, so she just nodded. His father stopped outside a room where Andrew was lying on the bed, looking very pale and unlike himself. His mother moved from the bedside and walked outside the room.

"He's fine," she explained to Cara who nodded, "He had some internal bleeding they had problems stopping, but he's expected to make a full recovery," said his mother.

"Can I go in?" Cara asked quietly.

Andrew's parents nodded and Cara walked into the hospital room. She took a seat next to the bed, but didn't know what to do. She again ran her fingers over her wrapped arm and shook her head. Grabbing his hand, she gently stroked her thumb across his knuckles and chuckled.

"You big hero. You remind me of Danny sometimes…" She grumbled.

"Great… not exactly who I wanted to remind you of," Andrew said quietly and Cara smiled.

"Glad you're alright," she said.

Andrew shifted slightly, "I hurt like hell, but otherwise I'm good,"

"Yeah, you didn't act hurt until you collapsed at the house," Cara said.

"Adrenaline," he said finally opening one of his eyes to look at her.

"Common excuse," she told him and rested her head in her good arm on the bed. Andrew ran a hand through her hair.

"How's your arm?" he asked.

"Fine. Just a little sore but alright," she said. There was a knock on the door and it opened and closed. Cara was too tired to see who it was and didn't move from her spot on the mattress.

"Can I ask you a few questions," came the male voice which Cara immediately placed as Mac's.

"Go ahead," Andrew said.

There was a pause and Cara heard the sound of a plastic chair being moved closer to the bed and someone sat down.

"Do you remember exactly what happened?" Mac asked.

Andrew shrugged, "We were jumped by two Pelican boys. I was trying to get one off of Luke and I'm guessing one jumped Sam and Cara, but I couldn't see what was going on. Next thing I know, there were two gunshots, and the two Pelican boys went down. I grabbed Cara and ran," Andrew said.

"Did you see anyone around the area? Anyone besides you four?" Mac asked.

Andrew shook his head, "I didn't see anyone,"

"Cara?"

Cara raised her head and rubbed her eyes, "No, I didn't see anyone. Just heard the gunshots. I don't know who would do that… We aren't exactly loved by the Tanglewood Boys," she explained resting the palm of her head against her temple.

Andrew nodded in agreement and Mac stood up, "Thanks," and left the hospital room. Cara watched him leave and yawned. Andrew moved over a little on the small bed and patted next to him. Cara gave him a look and he shrugged. Cara sighed, climbed up and curled up next to him, falling asleep.

_CSI:NYCSI:NYCSI:NY_

"Whoever fired the gun was a straight shooter. Both shots were precise and lethal," Sid handed Lindsay a Petri dish with two bullets rolling around in them.

"Anything else?" Lindsay asked after taking a quick look at the bullets.

"Just both of our victims had the same tattoo on their arms," Sid said pointing to the boy's arms and shrugging, "I'm guessing they are part of a gang… or a cult," Sid said.

Lindsay nodded, "Thanks, Sid," and headed out of the ME's office and headed up to the lab. She ran a hand through her hair and almost ran into Mac.

"Hey Lindsay? What did you get from Sid?" Mac asked.

"All he had was two bullets, both precise shots, and identical tattoos on our vics," Lindsay explained. Mac nodded.

"Alright, I'm going to see if Flack has anything for us. Run those through CODAS and see if we can get a hit," Mac said and walked off. Lindsay shrugged.

"On my way," she mumbled to herself and headed into the lab to run the two bullets. She quickly took photographs of the two bullets and ran them through CODAS. Sitting back in her chair, she rubbed her forehead and sighed. Lindsay pulled out her phone and saw she had a TXT from Danny. She opened up the TXT and read;

_Cara's fine. She's sleeping now. With Andrew…_

_I'll be at the lab in 20 with those photographs Mac wanted. _

_Hope you're having fun._

_-D_

Lindsay laughed and quickly TXTed him back;

_Don't hurt yourself over Cara and Andrew. _

_I'll see you in a bit. I'm in Trace._

_-Montana_

Lindsay hit the send button and snapped her phone shut. The computer soon beeped and began printing out a match to the two bullets they had found. Smiling, she grabbed the paper and hurried down to the precinct. She found Mac and Flack talking with one another at Flack's desk.

"I got a hit off the bullets we found at the crime scene. The same gun was used in a shop robbery 6 months ago on Staten Island. The perps were never caught," Lindsay said handing over the sheet of paper to Mac.

"This store is in Tanglewood area. I'm thinking our shooter was Tanglewood," Mac said handing the paper back to Lindsay. Flack nodded,

"Makes sense, the Pelican and Tanglewood Boy's are rivals. Get on their territory, they'll kill you," Flack said shrugging and leaning back in his seat.

There was a loud yell and some scuffling causing the three detectives to look over in confusion. A young boy stood at the doors of the precinct, his hands held up and a gun in his right hand.

"I'm not going to hurt anyone! I'm looking for Detective Flack!" the boy said looking very scared and nervous. Flack stood up,

"That would be me," he said walking over.

"I killed those two Pelican Boys, I wanted to. I'm glad I did. Gets me out. I want out, now," the boy said and he was now visibly shaking.

"It's alright, just put the gun down and tell me your name," Flack said.

The boy looked at Flack, set the gun down on a nearby desk and looked back at him, "Jake, Jake Thomas," the boy said.

Flack nodded and walked over to him pulling out his handcuffs and cuffing Jake, "You have the right to remain silent…" Flack said as he led him to a holding cell and Mac walked over to the gun and picked it up.

"Get this to ballistics, I want to get it test fired and see if they're a match," He said to Lindsay who pulled out a glove and grabbed it, heading back to the lab.

_CSI:NYCSI:NYCSI:NY_

"You sure the name was Jake Thomas?" Danny asked Lindsay as they watched the computer match up two bullets.

"I'm positive, Danny. I was standing in front of him when he confessed. Why?" Lindsay asked.

"Because Cara grew up with Jake Thomas. He was a good kid too, never got into trouble. I remember when Cara told me he joined the Tanglewood Boys. Worst day of her life I would say," Danny said.

"They were close?"

"Known each other since diapers. Well… most kids on the block knew each other since diapers," Danny watched Lindsay finger with her ring. It was the first time since Christmas he actually got to stop and get a good look at it. It looked right, as if it should be there. He smiled to himself and suddenly wanted it to be June… but he had to go through all the waiting and preparing for that special day.

Damn.

He hated time.

Lindsay shook her head, "The bullets match up," was all she said before she rubbed her forehead and stretched.

"Now I want to go home," she grumbled. Danny wrapped his arm around her waist as Lindsay rested against his shoulder. She had not been home since early morning the day before and the lack of sleep was getting to her. The computer had finished matching striations minutes ago, but Lindsay didn't feel like moving from her comfortable position on Danny's shoulder. Mac walked into the lab and took one quick look at the computer screen before shaking his head.

"I guess this case is closed," he grumbled and looked at the two younger CSI's, "Go home, get some rest. Come in tomorrow for the afternoon shift. Danny, make sure Cara gets home too," Mac said and left the office. Danny wrapped and arm around Lindsay's shoulders.

"You heard the man, let's get you home," Danny said guiding her out of the lab and to the elevators.

"What about your sister?" Lindsay asked looking up. Danny shrugged.

"She's safe, comfortable and I can pick her up in the morning. Let's just get home," Danny said and both headed home.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed and please review!**


	21. February 13 and 15, 2009

**Sorry for the late update. Well... it's not to bad, but I've been sick and my muse got sick too. Nothing I thought of seemed to work. But I thank Kristin for some humorous story ideas. Couldn't do it without ya! Thanks for all the previous reviews and such. You all rock. Remember to keep them coming, love to know what you are thinking. **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. **

**All mistakes belong to me. **

* * *

Diary Entry

February 14, 2009

Mood: I… hate… Valentine's… Day.

I don't care if I'm single, in a relationship or what, I HATE Valentine's Day. What moron came up with the holiday? It's not even a holiday! It's a Hallmark holiday; meaning that the card company (Hallmark) gets all this money for a holiday that shouldn't exist in the first place! And to top it all of… my stitches reopened.

Damn.

Funny part was that they opened up back at school. I don't think I have ever seen my 69 year old English teacher jump higher in her life. I thought they were going to have to call an ambulance for her because she went all pale and stuttering. Looking back it was pretty hysterical. During the event it was kind of scary. But all good. Went back to the hospital, they restitched my arm and everything was all hunky dory!

Andrew is doing fine. He had some internal bleeding from those two Pelican Boys. He's now back to acting like a normal boy, punching every one of his friends he sees and such. All jolly good. Sam and Luke are pretty good too. Sam's still shaken up; Luke is just, "LOOK AT MY BRUSISES!"

Dork.

So… since Valentine's Day is on a Saturday (and it's a Saturday morning and I'm eating Fruit Loops in my bed), I am running away from all my friends who are like, "Valentine's Day is SO romantic," (makes me puke… blah!) my parents are all cool with me heading into the city for the day… again. I swear I spend more time in Manhattan than I do on Staten Island. At least spring is coming up and it's not winter anymore. I don't get it; it's either to hot, or to cold. Can't the stupid weather make up its stupid mind?!

I can tell Danny and Lindsay are planning a wedding. There are magazines scattered all over their apartment, they are trying to decide what color the dresses should be (well… that's more Lindsay than Danny. Can you see Danny trying to decide what one dress looks better?

"Yeah hun, that looks fine,"

"Danny, that's a nightgown,"

_Pause_)

Danny is also trying to decide tux or uniform. I say tux, Danny look very handsome in tucks and I've only seen in once in a tux. I want to see him in one again! Please! The uniform makes him look like he's back on the job. No, we do not want a murder during the wedding. If there was a murder, half of the assembly's beepers would be going off at the same time.

Musical phones! WAHOO!

Alright, off to change into normal people's clothes and head off to the city. Weee….

I've only been awake for 10 minutes and I'm already acting as though I had way to much sugar.

_CSI:NYCSI:NYCSI:NY_

_Day before Valentine's Day…_

Cara slammed her locker door shut and it slowly began opening back up again. Cara gave it a look, groaned, and kicked it. All the door did was gently swing on its hinges and open back up. Cara growled. She was not in the mood to fight with her locker. Running her hand through her hair, she felt pieces of paper stuck in her hair. Pulling her hand out, she saw pink and red stands of paper caught in between her fingers.

She looked up at her locker which was slowly swinging on the hinges and she gently tried to close the door on her locker. It slowly opened again and she growled and pushed at the door again. It slowly opened up again and Cara banged her head against the door. Sighing, she felt someone behind her and a card was being held in front of her. Cara grabbed it and looked up at the person who was holding it up to her.

"Happy Valentine's Day," Andrew said.

Cara sighed and leaned against her broken locker door, "I thought I told you nothing for Valentine's Day," she said.

"It's just a card," Andrew said raising an eyebrow and Cara sighed.

"Alright, alright," Cara said and opened up the envelope and read the card. She smiled and gave Andrew a hug, "Thanks,"

"No problem, glad you like it," he said returning the hug.

"How's your stomach?" Cara asked leaning against the locker again to keep the door from opening up again.

"Fine, still hurts. How are you doing?" Andrew said taking her arm in his hand and gently running his fingers across her scar that still was raw from the cutting and the stitches.

"I start Physical Therapy on Monday. Can't wait to do my arm exercises," she looked down at her arm, "Pop already bought me a stress ball to help me strengthen up my muscles," Cara said.

"Is it pink?" Andrew asked.

Cara rolled her eyes, "No, black and shaped like a sphere. Nothing very interesting," she explained.

Andrew gave the locker door a look and Cara shrugged, "It's broken," she said giving it another hit with her elbow.

"You heard about Jake?" Andrew asked.

Cara nodded, "Yeah… I heard. Funny thing is that I told Jake that if he had any problems that he should go to Flack," Cara shook her head, "Do you know when his hearing is?"

Andrew shook his head, "I haven't heard. The Tanglewood Boys aren't to happy that he turned himself into the police. They already said that he's not welcomed back," Andrew said.

Cara sighed, "That's what you get for running with the wrong crowd," she said grabbing her messenger bag and pushing herself off her locker. Both looked at the locker door and Cara sighed in relief when it didn't open back up.

"I'll walk you home?" Andrew asked.

Cara shrugged and wrapped her arm around his waist, "No problem," she said and they headed out of the school.

_CSI:NYCSI:NYCSI:NY_

_Day after Valentine's Day…_

"So, did you two do anything special for Valentine's Day?" Cara asked grabbing one of the magazines that sat in the middle of the table.

Lindsay shook her head, "No, spent a lot of time together…"

Cara looked up to see Lindsay smirking at herself and Cara laughed, "I think I understand. You don't have to explain," she said and Lindsay burst into laughter also.

There was a knock on the door and Cara got up to answer it. Standing at the door was Stella, a bag in hand and a smile on her face.

"Hey Stella. Good to see ya," Cara said opening the door wider to let her in.

"It's good to see you too, Cara," she said walking in and taking off her shoes.

"Did you get the magazines?" Lindsay called in from the table she was sitting at. Cara exchanged looks with the two women.

"You brought MORE wedding magazines? Holy crap, by the time we get to the wedding date I'm not going to be able to recognize the apartment," Cara paused, "Wait! Do you even have a date?" she asked as Stella and Cara made their way back to the table.

Lindsay shook her head as Stella dropped the bag in the middle of the table and Cara stuck her hand into the bag and pulled out a magazine. She made a face at the front cover and threw it over to Stella.

"What's the problem?" Stella asked picking up the magazine and smiling.

"It's Cosmo," Cara said simply grabbing a safer magazine that sat out on the table.

"Yeah… so?" Stella asked.

"There are no wedding tips in that magazine! Only stupid sex tips and gross things like that…" Cara said and Lindsay gave a mock look of excitement.

"Stella, can I see the magazine?" Lindsay asking pretending to act all excited to see the magazine.

"No! Not you too!" Cara said and Lindsay began to laugh.

"Don't worry, Cara. I'm not a big fan of Cosmo either," Lindsay said waving off the magazine that Stella was holding out for her. Stella dropped the magazine on the desk and rolled her eyes. She suddenly paused and went and grabbed a magazine and smiled. She shoved it underneath Lindsay's nose and smiled.

"This is beautiful! Look!" Stella said pointing at the dress on the front cover.

Lindsay picked up the magazine and took a good look at the dress that Stella was pointing at. She gapped at the dress that graced the front of the dress and smiled. She passed the magazine to Cara who took it and took one look at the dress and smiled.

"I like it, very nice," Cara said handing the magazine back over to Lindsay who smiled.

"I'm going to get a drink, do you guys want anything?" Cara asked standing up and looking at Stella and Lindsay. Both shook their head and Cara disappeared into the kitchen as they continued to talk about wedding ideas and dress ideas.

Suddenly, there was a loud crash causing both to look up in surprise.

"Merda!" Cara shouted and ran back to where Stella and Lindsay were sitting. Both gave her a look and she pointed to the other room opening and closing her mouth. Stella stood up.

"Alright, Cara. I need you to relax. What happened?" Stella asked.

"I was walking into the kitchen and brushed up against Danny's motorcycle and it fell down," Cara said now clearly panicking.

Stella stood up, trying to keep back the grin that was threatening to creep on her face, "It's alright, Cara. It will be fine. How badly damaged is the bike?" she asked.

Cara shrugged, "I don't know. I'm too scared to look at it," she paused and groaned, "I'm so dead. He loves that bike; well it comes second to Lindsay," she earned a glare for that, "And if he founds out I damaged it I'm going to end up in the morgue and him in Sing Sing,"

Lindsay stood up and walked over to Cara and gave her a hug, "It's alright, lets inspect the damage and go from there alright?"

Cara nodded and the three made their way to where the bike laid. Stella and Lindsay pulled it back up; Cara was too afraid to go near it and looked at the bike and the floor.

"Looks like you did more damage to the floor than the bike," Stella said looking at the bike, than at Cara who was trying to keep back tears.

"How are we going to cover it up?" Cara asked and the two woman shot her a look, "What? That's what me and Danny did whenever we did something to the house," she said.

Lindsay walked over to Cara, "You're just going to have to tell him what happened and explain to him it was an accident. Don't worry, it's all going to be fine,"

It was now Cara's turn to give Lindsay a look, "That's what you say,"

20 minutes later, they heard a key in the door and Danny and Flack walk into the apartment, both chattering about some basketball game that was on the night before. Cara shifted uncomfortably in her seat at the kitchen table and Lindsay gave her a reassuring smile. The two men walked over to the woman and gave a look at the cluttered table.

"Did we miss something?" Danny asked pointing to the magazines.

"We're getting wedding ideas," Lindsay said picking up one of the magazines and showing it to Danny, "I thought you were working all day?"

"I was, but I need to talk to Cara for a second," Danny said beckoning to Cara who slowly got up and followed him into the kitchen. Thoughts began running through her mind as she took a seat on top of the countertop and watch her brother grab a drink from the refrigerator.

_Are his senses that good that he knew I dropped the bike?_

_Stella called him…_

_Crap, I'm going to get it. _

_I hope he didn't notice the floor when he walked in. _

_Oh… screw it. I'm so screwed. _

"Cara, I got a call from guards at prisoner transportation,"

_Wait! Did I do something illegal that someone forgot the tell me about?_

"Yeah?" Cara answered gently extending her fingers and tried to swallow but found it too difficult.

Danny handed her a note that she immediately recognized as Jake's, "What's this?" Cara asked.

"They found Jake dead this morning. The letter was found next to him," Danny explained. Cara gave him a surprised look.

"What happened?" she asked.

"He committed suicide."

* * *

**Merda** -**Shit (in Italian) I am the first to apologize if this is wrong. I know no Italian so I'm relying on online translators and we know how reliable those are. Hope you enjoyed and please review! **


	22. Midnight on February 15, 2009

**Short Chapter. So you guys understand what happened afterwards. Thanks for the reviews. Have a good week. And I'm really out of it today :D**

**All mistakes are mine. **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. **

* * *

Dear Cara, Andrew, Sam, Kristin, Luke, Jessica, and everyone else I might of missed,

There is one thing I want to say before I really get into this letter. I'm sorry for everything. For abandoning you guys when you really needed it, for treating you like shit for all these years, for everything I have done to you. I'm also sorry for having to do what you guys probably now know about. Taking my own life wasn't exactly what I had planned, but it had to happen otherwise someone else was going to take it, or I was going to live with regret I didn't want to live with for the rest of my life.

I think you guys earned some explanation. I didn't want to join the Tanglewood Boys. It wasn't on my agenda. As you know though my brother is part of the gang and he really wanted me to be apart of what he was apart of. I fell into the pressure my brother was putting on me and I lost everything. I paid for my mistake and I began hating Tanglewood. At first I thought it was cool. I had a group of people who would protect me, treat me as an equal. I learned though that I was only protected cause I was part of the gang and nobody wanted to fall to the Pelicans.

I found out that Sassone was going to be in Sing Sing and the last place I want to be in is a place where Tanglewood Boys are, especially where the head man is. Personally, I have had it with all these problems, with all the lies, drugs, everything. I've had it.

Jessica – You are amazing. You are the coolest person I have ever met and you can do what you want if you put your mind to it.

Andrew – We've been through thick and thin together and I will never forget the friendship you gave me, even after I joined the gang.

Sam – Don't stop drawing. You're an amazing artist.

Luke – Dude… just do it. And never give up on what you're doing.

Kristin – Back from Washington eh? Well… thanks for being my friend and forgiving me when you found out I was a Tanglewood Boy.

Cara – We've known each other since diapers. You are easily the strongest person I know and never give up. You can do anything.

I'll miss you all, but do me a favor. Don't despair that I'm gone. Trust me; death is better than Sing Sing.

Take care,

-Jake

_CSI:NYCSI:NYCSI:NY_

Cara, Kristin, Sam, Jessica, Luke and Andrew sat in a darkened Andrew's room, the letter that Jake had written sitting in between them. No one spoke, most were too shocked to speak, others knew they would burst into tears if they opened their mouth.

"When did you find out?" Andrew asked Cara, who was sitting on Andrew's bed across the room.

"Yesterday. Danny came home to tell me that he had um… died," Cara said, her voice trailing off in the end. Andrew nodded and stood up and grabbed the letter. His eyes scanned the letter real quick before he folded it over and dropped it on his desk.

"This is insane," Luke said, his arms wrapped around his knees and he watched Andrew pace around his room. Luke watched him and sighed, "Andrew, sit down before you put a hole in the floor,"

"No one saw it coming. At least he explained it in the letter," Sam said mentioning to the letter now sitting on the desk.

"Doesn't give him the right to take his own life," Jessica said and Kristin rolled her eyes.

"No going political on us, Jess. We just lost a friend, last thing we need is politics," Kristin said to Jessica who rolled her eyes.

"Kristin, it's more religious views than anything else," Cara mumbled, rubbing her hands together. She laughed, "And I was worried about creating a huge dent in Danny's floor,"

Kirstin looked up at Cara than checked her watch, "Look, I better get going before my parents start freaking," Kirstin stood up and stretched, "I'll see you all at school, if you are going," Kristin said and headed toward the window and climbed out. The group sat in silence for a bit before Jessica and Sam stood up and made their way to the window and disappeared.

The three remaining teenagers sat in silence before Luke stood up and gave a small smile to Andrew and Cara, "I'll see you guys later," he said and he headed out the window and left. Cara continued to sit on the bed and Andrew shifted uncomfortably next to the desk he was leaning against. Cara stood up, "I'm going to head home. You alright?" she asked.

Andrew shook his head and rubbed his eyes, "Can't believe he's gone,"

Cara walked over and gently rubbed her hand across his arm, "It'll be alright,"

Andrew took a deep breath and looked at Cara, "This is going to sound really stupid, but are you willing just to stay tonight?" he asked.

Cara licked her lips and slowly nodded. She pulled Andrew into a hug and both were finally able to break down.

_CSI:NYCSI:NYCSI:NY_

Danny stood in front of his bike, his face contorted in concentration and him slowly nodding and quietly talking to himself. Lindsay walked out from the bedroom, drying her hair with a towel and stopped at the sight of Danny standing in front of his bike.

"Danny… what are you doing?" Lindsay asked standing next to him.

"Something looks different…" he mumbled pointing at the bike, "I can't put my finger on it,"

Lindsay shook her head and walked back into the bedroom and came out a couple of seconds later with a NYPD sweatshirt on and sweatpants.

"Did you see anything happen to it?" Danny asked turning to Lindsay who shrugged and shook her head.

"I didn't see anything, but I heard something," Lindsay answered crossing her arms.

Danny nodded, "Alright… what did you hear?"

Lindsay sighed, "Promise me that you will not get upset at the person I am about to name,"

"Boy scouts honor," Danny said raising his hands and smiling.

"Alright. Cara went into the kitchen to get something to drink. Couple of seconds later, we heard a loud crash and her swearing in Italian. We came in and your bike was on the ground and Cara was almost in tears," Lindsay explained to Danny who at first look very upset, than his face turned more relaxed.

"I don't think I can be mad at her. And… there's not much damage," he said pointing to the bike and tapped his chin in thought. Lindsay shook her head and grabbed his arm and began pulling him toward the bedroom. Danny gave her a look.

"What are you doing?" Danny asked.

"It's almost midnight and you've been working all day. You need to sleep," Lindsay said and Danny let his feet move and they headed toward the bedroom. Danny pulled off his jeans and shirt he was wearing and fell onto the bed. Lindsay got in the bed and ran a hand through Danny's hair.

"I've been thinking… what about the second week of June?" She asked.

Danny opened one of his eyes and shifted slightly, "Second week of June… hmm… That sounds good to me. As long as it's not July, I'm fine,"

"July here is a mess," Lindsay said quietly and rubbed her eyes before falling onto the pillows and rolling over and burying her face into Danny's chest. Danny wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close.

"We'll begin worry about the wedding tomorrow," Danny grumbled and both slowly drifted to sleep.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed, please review. **


	23. February 28, 2009

**Hey! New chapter. Yay! Hope you all enjoy and thanks for all the reviews on the last two. Means so much! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything. **

**All mistakes are mine. **

* * *

Diary Entry

February 28, 2009

Mood: One word. PMS

Like I said, PMS sucks! Hormones need to learn to relax every once in a while and not go haywire every month. Sam loves to call it Tom (Time Of Month). Whenever she says that I think of some very creepy guy coming over to my house and standing outside of my window going, "I can see you…"

Whatever.

It's been a shitty couple of weeks. The group has been pretty quiet for the past couple of days and none of us can get over the fact that he's gone. Funny thing is; we haven't actually carried on a conversation with the guy for the past 2 years. I guess you can say I've grown up with the guy, so it's just odd to think I won't see him anymore. Gesh, 2 deaths in less than a year.

Anyway, we're trying to move on and forget about what happened. I got a job at a local store and its pretty fun. Work a couple hours every other day and I'm beginning to get to know the regulars. Have you ever seen those TV shows of people who see one another every day that they begin to have the 'we can talk about normal stuff and not be awkward' relationship? Well… that's what I'm getting when I work at the store. I didn't realize that Staten Island was populated with so many other people.

Danny and Lindsay are making some progress on their wedding plan. Not much, but it's slowly getting there. They have a date, which, praise the lord, is after school ends. So I won't have to worry about that. They want it small, which is good. The Messer's, Monroe's, and the team. That's it. Personally, that sound perfectly fine to me, but Andrew is coming to the wedding. He's my date :). I already cleared that with Danny, so it's all good.

Now, off to go earn some money. And see Tony who is what you could call the coolest grandfather. He's in his late 70's and still kicking ass. He's pretty cool.

_CSI:NYCSI:NYCSI:NY_

Cara sat behind the register of the local shop she worked at, her chin resting on her cheek and her eyes darting every which way on a word search she was working on from the New York Times. One of the costumers who came in for the Saturday NY Times didn't like the word search or the Crossword puzzle. Cara gladly took it off his hands and had now begun to get good at the puzzles that came weekly.

She clicked her tongue as her eyes scanned over the row of letters that lined the paper and she set her pen down and rubbed her temples. Looking up, she saw several people walk past the store and a couple enter, quietly talking and making their way to the back of the store where they sold the alcohol. The one part she hated about her job was selling the alcohol. She hated the looks people gave her when she rang up the items and sometimes people would ask her how old she was. She would than roll her eyes and state, "Do you want the liquor or what?"

Cara sat up straighter on the stool she was sitting on and the phone rang. She reached over and answered. While talking to the person on the other line, two people walked in and came up to the register. One was tapping on the glass counter and Cara held up her hand as if to say, "Cool your jets, I'll be there in a minute."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the person slide a badge onto the counter and she learned at an early age that when she saw a badge shown to her, she better get off of what she was doing and pay attention to the cop.

"Yeah, can I call you back, boss?" Cara asked and sighed, "Thanks," she hung up the phone and turned her attention to the person who was standing at the counter.

"Now, what can I help you with… oh. Hi Mac," Cara slumped and gave him a small grin.

"Have you heard anything strange in the past few hours?" Mac asked putting his badge back on his belt. Cara shook her head.

"I just got on a half hour ago," Cara explained, "What's this all about?"

"Homicide just in the alleyway over," Mac said and Cara raised her eyebrow and then quickly shook her head.

"I didn't see or hear anything," she said and Stella came out from behind a mound of chips, her flashlight in hand checking for anything suspicious.

"Hey Stella," Cara said and Stella gave a wave in acknowledgement.

"Did you make sure this wasn't a Tanglewood or Pelican Boy thing? You know they won't be too happy if they found out the cops are in on this," Cara stated and Mac shook his head.

"The ME is just moving the body. Sid will confirm all that good stuff. I didn't expect to see you here," Stella said shutting off her flashlight and putting it in her pocket.

"Job. I'm actually trying to get money so I can put it in a bank and feel like a regular, hard working American," Cara said raising a fist in mock celebration.

Mac gave a small smile and Stella shook her head, "If you hear anything or see anything, you know our numbers," Mac said and the two left the small store with Cara giving a small nod to the retreating backs. She sighed and she heard someone clear their throat. She looked up to see the two people who had come in earlier, looking a little annoyed.

"What? I was busy answering questions," Cara said grabbing the bottle of vodka, scanning it, and placing it back on the counter, "That will be 11 bucks please,"

"Aren't you a little young to be selling alcohol?" the man asked raising an eyebrow.

"Are you going to pay or sit and ask questions?"

_CSI:NYCSI:NYCSI:NY_

Danny pulled a folder out of his drawer and quickly glanced at it before groaning and shoving it back in. How come Mac had to put him on two cases at once? It confused the hell out of him when he did and he hated it with a burning passion. Taking a quick glance at his computer, which was running fingerprints, he got up and decided that coffee sounded good at that point in time. He made his was to the break room where he saw that the coffee pot was empty and he took the liberty to refill the pot with fresh coffee.

He sat at one of the tables, waiting for the coffee to be finished when Stella walked in, and her nose stuck in a folder and mumbling to herself.

"Wow, Stella, you better stop acting like Belle otherwise you may be in trouble," Danny said taking a quick glance at the coffee pot before he returned his attention to his boss.

Stella put down the folder and gave him a look, "How do you know about Beauty and the Beast?" she asked sitting down across from him and closing the folder.

"Cara was a Disney freak when she was little. I think we have every single animated movie that came out," Danny said shrugging, "And Beauty and the Beast was her favorite,"

"Really?" Stella asked.

"Oh yes, but you didn't hear it from me," he said giving a small smile and jumped up when he heard the coffee pot beep to single that it was done.

"I saw Cara this morning actually," Stella said leaning back.

"You did now? What did she do this time?" Danny asked pouring a cup of coffee for himself and raising the pot toward Stella to ask if she wanted some.

Stella waved her hand in no thanks and shrugged, "She's working at a small store on Staten Island. She looked pretty bored,"

"If she's working at Joe's, I'm never going to let her live that down," Danny said sitting down across from Stella and taking a sip of his coffee.

"I think that's what the name of the place was," Stella said causing Danny to laugh.

"We used to hang out at Joe's all the time and I would make fun of her saying that it was going to be her first job," Danny explained, "Cara kept saying it wouldn't, but turned out I was right, like usual,"

Stella shook her head and decided to change the subject, "I heard you and Lindsay set a date," Stella said.

"Finally we did, and we're also finalizing the guest list. Small wedding, that's what we want. And Lindsay's mom is being a huge help for us. She's helping finding dresses and all that good stuff I'm not too good at. At first I thought she was going to be that annoying mother who wanted to take over the wedding, but she's really helping us," Danny said.

"You seemed surprised,"

"Oh, trust me, even Montana's surprised about her mother's actions," Danny said taking another drink from his mug. They talked for a while longer before Danny's phone beeped and he had to go find Adam who had finally identified the trace he had found. Stella turned her attention back to the folder when Mac came in and sat down across from her, rubbing his face with his hands.

"What did Sid have to say about the body?" Stella asked.

"Oh, nothing much. The guy is not a Tanglewood or Pelican, but he is in the system. He was caught dealing drug a couple years back, hasn't been jailed since," Mac told her.

"Alright, I'm running trace as we speak and those results should be done in a few minutes," Stella stood up and smiled, "I'll check back with you in a bit,"

Mac nodded and leaned back in his chair. He needed to get home before he fell asleep on the job.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed and please review. :)  
**


	24. March 9, 2009

**Alright, just a short, happy chapter for you all. I think you deserve it will all the angst I pulled. :) Writers back to work and the CSI:NY writers are pulling overtime to get us new episodes. Can't wait for April! Thank you for all the reviews. You all rock! **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. **

**All mistakes are mine. **

* * *

Diary Entry 

Date: March 9, 2009

Mood: Holy Crap! Flack is going to get it.

Three day weekend, yippy! I love three day weekends. You know why? Well, if you don't then you definitely have been out of school way to long. Anyway, I decided to make myself comfortable down at the crime lab. At school, they want us to start thinking about what we want to do for a job and personally, I have no idea. Dad's in construction and personally, construction doesn't fit me. Mom's a stay at home mother, sometimes she'll get odd jobs around the community and Danny works for the NYPD. Where does that leave me?

I have no idea.

And they want us to start looking at collages. Holy crap! Collages! No fucking way. I still have all of my senior year summer and senior year to go through. Well… I am a junior and sooner or later I'm going to have to start looking at where I want to go for collages. I asked Flack and he just gave me a look. Than I remembered he has a high school diploma and went to the Academy. So he definitely wasn't much help. I'm told Manhattan Collage is pretty decent, and so is NYU. I have no idea personally.

To change the subject, Flack is totally going to get it. I was sitting in the break room and I guess Lindsay's mom ordered cake samples and had them sent to the crime lab by accident. I was watching them and Flack walks in… Well. Maybe you can figure it out from there.

_CSI:NYCSI:NYCSI:NY_

Cara sat in the break room, her eyes wandering from the television that was playing CNN to the boxes of cake samples that sat on the counter near the sink. She sighed and rubbed her forehead. She was bored, and sitting there protecting cake samples was not helping anything. She decided that nature was calling and she went to go to the restroom.

She was gone no longer than five minutes and when she came back, Flack was sitting near the sink, a fork in hand and one of the small cake boxes opened. Cara stopped in her tracks, shocked.

"Flack… what are you doing?" Cara asked causing Flack to look up and shrug.

"I'm hungry, so I'm eating. That a problem?" He asked taking another bite of the cake.

Cara let out a nervous laugh, "Alright, I hope you know that those are Danny and Lindsay's cake samples," she said pointing at the boxes.

Flack stopped chewing for a second, looked down at the box and shrugged, digging his fork into the cake once more and shoveling a piece into his mouth. Cara shrugged.

"Alright, Flack. I'll say something nice at your funeral," Cara said sitting down and changing the channel on the TV from CNN to a rerun of Cold Case. Flack looked up at the TV and gave Cara a look.

"You like that show?" Flack asked as he scooped another helping of cake into his mouth.

"Yes, I do and if you have a problem with that, you can leave," Cara said setting the remote down on the table and giving Flack a look knowing that Danny would give Flack hell for eating the cake samples.

Right on cue, Danny and Lindsay walked into the break room, discussing some case that they were working on when both stopped in their tracks and looked at the cake samples, to Flack who was still chowing down on the cake. Cara looked back at Danny and Lindsay, gave them a small wave and returned her attention to Cold Case.

"Hey Montana, is that Flack eating our cake samples?" Danny asked and Lindsay crossed her arms and nodded.

"Why Danny, I do believe it is," she said a hint of annoyance in her voice.

Flack looked up at the couple that was standing at the break room door and noticed that he had only one way of escaping and that was blocked. He gave the two a smirk and gently set the cake box down on the counter and rubbed his hands together.

"Just to say, that cake was excellent," Flack said and Danny shook his head before making his move. Flack maneuvered out of the way and hurried out of the break room with Danny at his heels. The sight of seeing her brother act like a six year old caused Cara to burst into laughter. She covered her mouth and looked at Lindsay.

"I'm sorry, I went to the bathroom and I came back to see Flack eating the cake. I warned him, but he wouldn't listen," Cara explained and Lindsay waved her hand.

"It's alright, as long as it was only one cake, I'm fine with it," She said sitting down across from Cara and outside the break room, shouts of an angry Danny and a very scared Flack could be heard throughout the lab.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed and please review.  
**


	25. March 16, 2009

**Okay, I would first like to thank some people from DLChem for last chapter's idea. You rock. Thanks Kristin for being my little person who I bounce ideas off of. Thanks to all who review and to those few who have reviewed every chapter. Thanks for sticking with me! **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. **

**All mistakes are mine. **

* * *

To: soccermesser hotmail . com 

Date: March 16, 2009

Subject: Hey li sis

Okay, sorry about last week, but personally I had a lot of fun beating up on Flack. Now I get to beat up on you! This is so exciting! Yippy!

Alright, I need to grow up a little…

Anyway, I heard you're working at Joe's. Haha, I would like to take the opportunity to say "I told you so." I always thought you would end up getting a job there. I feel so proud of myself.

Stella told me before you go crazy. She told me about asking you about a homicide that was outside the store that you did not see… how you managed that I have no idea. They have a few suspects, no one really shouting "I did it!" Stella and Mac are working it though, they'll find something.

I have to go, sorry this was such a short email. I'll give you a call later on tonight. Love ya.

-Danny

_CSI:NYCSI:NYCSI:NY_

Cara, Sam and Kristin walked out of the science lab, laughing at an event that had happened back in the classroom.

"Did you see his face?" Kristin asked as Cara leaned against Sam, still laughing.

"Well, it's your fault that you put to much backing soda in the mixture," Sam shout at Kristin who was still giggling.

"Still, it was pretty funny," Cara said rubbing her eyes and smiling.

"We all got zeros on the lab I hope you know," Sam said stopping and crossing her arms and looking at her two friends. Cara rolled her eyes.

"Relax, it's no problem. I think Mr. Lewis thought it was pretty funny and it was a complete accident. We'll talk to him tomorrow and see if we can make it up or anything special, alright?" Cara suggested and Sam seemed to agree with Cara because she nodded and continued walking down the hallway.The girls continued chattering as they made their way to their lockers when Sam suddenly stopped causing Cara to run into her.

"What the heck, Sam?" Cara asked and followed Sam's gaze to the lockers down the hall where Andrew's lockers where. Leaning up against them was Andrew and in front of him was a girl from the small cheerleading squad. She was moving toward him, saying something low to him and smirking. Cara's breath hitched in her throat, not knowing what to do. He wouldn't take it, this was Andrew.

Cara saw Andrew move toward her and Cara almost died.

_That…_

She took a deep breath, looked at her watch and gave a forced smile, "I have to go to work. I'll see you guys later," she said and headed out of the hallway, before bumping into the cheerleader who fell into Andrew. Andrew looked at the cheerleader and than up at Cara who had disappeared behind the doors to the school. Andrew pushed the girl off of him and followed Cara out the doors.

"Cara! Hey Cara! Wait up!" Andrew called out running to catch up with her.

Cara didn't listen, just kept on walking and ignoring him. She didn't want to deal with it, not right now. Andrew caught up with her and grabbed her arm, "Cara, I can explain,"

"Yeah? You can explain. You know what, just forget it. I have to get to work," she said pulling her arm out of his grasp and continued walking.

"It wasn't what you think it is! She came on to me!" Andrew said following her and Cara shook her head.

"Yeah. Right. That's what they all say," Cara growled, turned on her heel and ended the conversation and leaving Andrew standing in the middle of the sidewalk, dumbfounded.

_CSI:NYCSI:NYCSI:NY_

Flack hurried off of the elevator and began checking every lab and office for Mac. He was slightly mumbling to himself as he walked and was frantic. He ran into Danny, who still was a little upset at him from eating the cake sample.

"Hey, have you seen Mac?" Flack asked and Danny shook his head.

"Last time I saw him he was heading down the ME's office. What's up?" Danny asked crossing his arms and giving his friend a look.

"We just received a note from one of our suspects in the drug dealer case," Flack explained.

"Really? The one on Staten Island?" Danny asked and Flack nodded.

"Yeah, turns out he's our guy and he's going to kill again, we just don't know where," Flack said and Mac came up snapping a folder shut and looking at the detectives.

"I heard my name," he stated and Flack looked very relieved to see him.

"We need to get going. We just received a note from one of our suspects. He's going to kill again," Flack hurried.

"Where?"

"We don't know. I already have guys out looking for him," Flack said.

"Alright, lets get going," Mac said and the two left Danny to finish his work.

_CSI:NYCSI:NYCSI:NY_

Cara wiped her eyes and sat up straighter on the stood she was sitting on. A small pack of tissues sat on the counter and she grabbed another one to blow her nose with.

"I'm being stupid," she grumbled and threw the tissue into the trash can, "Maybe I'm overreacting and he was telling the truth. I don't give him enough credit,"

She rubbed her hands together quickly and looked up to see two men and a woman with a baby walk into the store. She nodded to them and they went their separate ways in the store, disappearing behind the aisles. Cara rubbed her temples and began wishing for an Advil when she heard a scuffle in the back and a muffled gunshot. She jumped up and a man came out from the back, gun in hand, a wild look on his face.

"Where is he?" the man asked his voice deep and horse.

"Where is who?" Cara asked her hands raised in surrender as she slowly backed away.

"Him… him!" the man yelled his hands shaking.

"I don't know who you are talking about," Cara said and a gun shot ran out. Cara froze and looked over to her side where a small hole now was present in the wall behind her.

"Don't lie to me!" the man said.

Cara was about to open her mouth to say something when in the distance they heard sirens in the distant. The man's ears seemed to perk up as he listened and returned his attention to Cara.

"You called the cops…" he stated and Cara shook her head, her mouth getting dryer by the second.

"You called the cops!" he screamed and in the back of the store, a baby started to cry. Cara looked back to see the woman who had walked in earlier trying to settle down her restless child and looking very frightened herself. The man took little notice in the crying baby and continued to focus on Cara.

"He was supposed to be here. We had a plan. We were going to take over, drugs. Our dealer cheated us out of everything!" The man said. His breath began getting ragged and Cara licked her suddenly dry lips. From the corner of her eye, she could see police cars coming up to the front of the store and cops jumping out, guns in hand. The man looked outside and then at Cara and he smirked.

"You can help me," the man stated and grabbed Cara by the arm and pulled her in front of her and pointed the gun to her throat.

_"God damn, déjà vu,"_ Cara thought as her mind went back to the night in the cemetery.

"Alright, sir! No one has to get hurt," a voice came from one of the cop cars.

"How do you know!" the man yelled, "I could pull the trigger right now and end her life!"

"You don't want to do that!" another voice said and Cara shifted uncomfortably and she felt the barrel of the gun being shoved against her neck.

The man growled and pulled Cara more toward the back of the store where the woman sat, trying to comfort her child. The baby continued whimpering and then suddenly let out a lout wail. The man glared at the woman and growled, "Shut the kid up. Shut it up now!"

The woman looked very stressed and scared, not sure what do or say to her child to try and relax her baby. The baby continued crying and the man turned around and waved the gun in front of her, "Shut it up! SHUT IT UP!" the man yelled and Cara could hear him cock the gun, causing the woman to get a very panicky.

Cara knew she had to do something, out of instinct. She slowly twisted herself and she saw the man's finger slowly beginning to squeeze. Without thinking, she pulled herself out of the man's arms and pushed him over, causing the gun to go off into a packet of chips, causing Cheetos to fly everywhere. The man fell on the ground and the gun went skidding down one of the aisles. Cara jumped up and grabbed the gun and pointed at it at the man.

The doors to the store burst opened and several SWAT members came in with Flack and Mac bring up the rear. Mac went and arrested the man and Flack hurried over to Cara, who was still frozen with the gun in her hand. Flack slowly grabbed the gun from Cara and she began shaking. Flack led her out of the store and Mac handed the man off to another cop while he helped the woman who had been in the store as well. Flack didn't say anything as he led her to an EMS vehicle. She sat down and took deep breaths trying to calm herself down. Flack sat next to her, rubbing her back.

Andrew's face popped up in the small crowd as he looked around trying to look around and search for people. Cara looked up and saw Andrew in the crowd and forgetting about how angry she was at him earlier and stood up and ran over to him, jumping up in his arms. Andrew tighten his arms around her as Cara hid her face in the crook of his neck and cried.

_CSI:NYCSI:NYCSI:NY_

"Messer,"

"Hey Danny, it's Don,"

"Hey Don, how did the arrest go?"

"Um… how quick can you get to your house?"

"Why? Don, what happened?"

"It's Cara, she was involved in the standoff. She needs you right now,"

"I'll be there,"

* * *

**Hope you all enjoyed and please review.  
**


	26. March 28, 2009

**Thank you for all the wonderful reviews on the last chapter. You all rock and keep them coming. Thanks for sticking with me! YAY! **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. **

**All mistakes belong to me. **

* * *

Diary Entry

March 28, 2009

Mood: Gah… just very exhausted and want Spring Break.

It's been such a crazy past month. Every since that store hold up I've been… not sleeping. I've been very distant from everyone even Andrew and I really don't know what's going on. I'm scared, tired, and jumpy. I don't know… really. I try to act as if there nothing wrong because I don't know what's wrong. Andrew's trying to be understanding, Sam and Kirsten try to help me out and Danny is also trying to be understanding and lend an open ear.

I know I'm being stubborn, that runs in my family and I'm no different. I want to talk, but whenever I try and open my mouth to talk about things… gah. The words won't come out. It scares me, every time I try to go out, forget about it, it never works. I'm being a pain in the ass and I feel like a fricken burden to everyone. I don't know what to do.

_CSI:NYCSI:NYCSI:NY_

Cara sat at her kitchen table, her math book propped up against a bottle of soda and papers scattered all over the table. She gently tapped her pencil against the table and sighed. She hadn't been out with her friends in the past couple of weeks and it was beginning to take a toll on her. Cara was drifting away from her friends, eating had become more of a chore than anything else and sleeping was doing nothing to help her cause.

At first Cara tired to act as if nothing had happened. In the beginning she laughed, talked and was her normal self. Than, she began spending more time to herself and her mind began replaying what had happed in the store over and over again like a movie. Then, her nightmares started. They would end in the most awful ways; both the mother and baby died or the man shot Cara in an instant. Cara threw her pencil across the table and leaned back in the chair staring into the empty space of the kitchen. In the silence, she could hear the door being unlocked and she knew her mom was home. Gathering up her homework, she scurried up the stairs and quietly shut the door.

Cara dumped her stuff on her bed and went to her window and sat down, resting her chin on her knuckles. She stared off into space, her mind swimming in different thoughts and scenarios. Sighing, she rubbed her eyes and stood up. She was beginning to get restless and she needed something to do. She grabbed her diary and began writing, but was interrupted by a knocking at her bedroom door.

"Cara, do you want anything to eat?" her mother's voice floated into the bedroom and Cara shook her head.

"No mom, I ate before you came home," She answered setting down her pen and crossing her arms, shooting a look at the closed door.

There was sigh on the other side of the door, "Alright and honey, could you please come out of your room for more than 15 minutes tonight. Your father and I are getting worried,"

"I'm fine, mom. I've told you a dozen times," Cara said rubbing her eyes again.

"You're not acting fine,"

"Mom…"

"Alright, if you don't want to talk, that's fine. Just if you do, know your father and I are willing to listen," Mariya said and Cara listened for the squeaking of the stair case before letting out a breath that she didn't realize she was holding in.

Standing up, she decided she had enough of staying awake and fell on her bed and fell asleep. She awoke hours later, her breathing heavy and her body covered in a cold sweat. She wasn't awoken by her dream; something else had woken her up. Rolling on her side, she came face to face with Andrew who was kneeling by the bed, his face etched with concern.

"What… how…?" Cara babbled and she sat up.

"I got worried and was checking up on you. You were um… mumbling and crying in your sleep," Andrew said and Cara rubbed her hand across her cheek to feel them wet from her crying. Sighing, she felt the side of the bed go down with the weight of Andrew sitting down on the side of the bed. She leaned against his shoulder. Andrew moved back and leaned against the headboard bring her up and leaning her against his chest.

Cara held onto his arm, the images of her nightmare still swimming through her head.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Andrew asked and Cara shook her head.

"Not yet,"

_CSI:NYCSI:NYCSI:NY_

Cara stood in front of the apartment door, raising her hand, and then dropping it, than raising it again. She growled to herself, mentally kicking herself for being so stubborn.

"Ahh… fuck it," she grumbled and knocked on the door. The door opened and Lindsay rubbed the back of her neck and looked up.

"Cara? Oh… Danny's working today,"

"I'm not here to talk to him," Cara said stuffing her hands in her pockets and looked up at Lindsay, "I'm here to talk to you,"

Lindsay paused and nodded before opening the door wider and letting her in. Cara walked in and kicked off her shoes near the couch and leaned against it. Lindsay shut the door and she looked at Cara.

"You want something to drink?" Lindsay asked heading toward the kitchen. Cara shook her head and Lindsay poured herself a cup of coffee.

"Have a seat, don't be a stranger," Lindsay said and Cara plopped down on the couch and Lindsay sat down next to her. "So…"

"I need someone to talk to and um… I thought you were the best choice," Cara said. Lindsay shrugged.

"I'm all ears," Lindsay said leaning back in the couch.

"Did you keep having nightmares after the shooting in Montana?" Cara asked. Lindsay was taken aback by the question and nodded.

"Yeah, I did. For a long time," Lindsay said and Cara nodded.

"I keep having nightmares, about the hold up in the store," Cara said and she rubbed her hands together, "I had another one last night and this time Andrew was there,"

Lindsay nodded and Cara sighed, "I can't sleep, eat, or just be myself. My mind keeps going back to the hold up and I feel sick to my stomach and…" Cara hit her head and shook her head. She stood up, "You know, this was a bad idea, I'm going to go," Cara said and Lindsay quickly set down her mug and grabbed Cara's arm, pulling her back down on the couch.

"Oh no. You are not going anywhere," Lindsay said and she crossed her arms ignoring the glare that Cara had shot her.

"Flack told me what happened at the store. I can see what you are going through," Lindsay said.

Cara shook her head, "Yeah, but I didn't see four of my friends get killed,"

"Yeah, but you were held at gunpoint and had to watch a mother desperately try to comfort her child at gunpoint. Personally, I can get what you're going through. Remember, I'm a cop," Lindsay stated and Cara looked up at her.

"Gahh… You're good at this," Cara grumbled and Lindsay gave a little smirk.

"Your brother is my boyfriend," Lindsay said and Cara laughed.

"Good point," Cara said and smiled, "That was the first time I laughed in a while," she said.

Lindsay nodded, "You want to continue?" she asked and Cara nodded.

Over the next hour, Cara expressed her feeling to Lindsay, telling her about her everything from the incident all the way to the nightmares she was beginning to get daily. Lindsay sat and listened to everything Cara had to say, offering advice at certain points and allowing her to cry on her shoulder when Cara needed to.

Cara got up to get something to drink when the front door opened and closed. Danny walked into the apartment, not noticing Cara standing in the kitchen, but did notice her shoes sitting next to the couch.

"Lindsay… why are Cara's shoes here?" Danny asked dropping his keys on the side table and giving Lindsay a look.

"Maybe because she's here in your kitchen," Lindsay said giving Danny a look. He looked up to see Cara waving at him from the kitchen and she took a sip of water.

"Hey Dan, long time no see," Cara said with a small smile. She pulled out her phone and swore under her breath, "I've got to go. I promised to see Andrew later this afternoon. Thanks Lindsay, see ya later Danny!" Cara said grabbing her shoes and running out of the apartment.

Danny looked at the front door, than the kitchen, and then Lindsay.

"What the hell was that all about?" Danny asked feeling completely out of the loop.

"Cara wanted to talk. I offered an ear," Lindsay said standing up.

"But I'm her brother,"

"Yeah, but I'm a woman. I'm one up on ya there," Lindsay said patting his cheek and heading into the bedroom leaving a dumfounded Danny standing in the middle of the living room.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed and please review.  
**


	27. April 19, 2009

**Alright, another chapter. Finally. Just some wedding drama for you all. Hope you enjoy. Thanks for all the reviews on the last chapter. Again, they mean so much so keep reviewing! **

**Disclaimer: Must we go over this again?**

**All mistakes are mine. **

* * *

Diary Entry

April 19, 2009

Mood: Partially scared and worried.

Okay, I was over at the partial warzone apartment this afternoon and Danny and Lindsay kind of got into it over a really… eh… stupid thing. I mean… really stupid. I guess you could say it's the stress of the wedding coming up that's driving them to be so… stupid.

I feel really bad for them though. They are stressed beyond belief and I think they finally snapped. Personally, screw the wedding. I'd elope.

_CSI:NYCSI:NYCSI:NY_

Cara sat at the kitchen table, slowly flipping through a wedding magazine, her eyes darting from the pages of the magazine as she listened to the conversation that was slowly heating up in the living room. Cara looked up and rolled her eyes before throwing the magazine across the table and crossing her arms.

"Montana… that doesn't work. Think about it," Danny's voice floated to where Cara was sitting.

"I am thinking about, Danny. Look…" there was a pause and Cara looked up to see Lindsay showing Danny something.

"What are you guys doing? Are you still looking for a theme?" Cara asked and Danny looked back at her and glared.

"No…" Danny said and returned his attention to what Lindsay was showing him.

Cara shrugged and stood up and made her way into the kitchen to get something to eat. After several minutes of quiet, she heard a loud bang and when she looked up Lindsay was standing up, not looking very happy.

"Okay, I just need to get out. Danny… I'll see you later," Lindsay said and she walked out of the apartment.

Danny groaned and Cara saw him fall across the couch. Cara sighed; set down the pack of Cheetos she had grabbed from the cabinet and walked over to him. Danny's arm was draped across his eyes and he was quietly talking to himself. Cara shook her head, grabbed his arm and pulled him up.

"You need to get out and about. Come on…" Cara said grabbing his keys off the side table and they walked out the door, Danny not paying attention to what Cara was taking him. They walked down the busy street in silence, Danny trying to not hit himself on the head out of his stupidity.

"Alright Danny, what was that all about?" Cara asked zipping up her sweatshirt and looking at her brother.

Danny shrugged, "I hate weddings," he grumbled.

Cara paused, looked at her brother and said, "Elope,"

"Yeah, and have two very upset mothers at us, no thanks," Danny said giving his little sister a look and Cara just shrugged.

"Okay… just a suggestion. You are going to want to take that suggestion soon," Cara said pointing at her brother and Danny stopped in front of a store.

"Come on, I need to get something," Danny said and they walked into the store. Danny walked up to the counter and pointed to a pack of cigarettes and pulling out a twenty. Cara looked at the bill and the cashier before holding up her hand.

"Hold on a sec," Cara said before disappearing to the back of the store and returning with two small boxes and she slid them across the counter. The cashier picked them up and scanned them both before taking the twenty to make change. Danny picked up one of the boxes and groaned.

"Cara, you know I hate Nicorette," Danny said showing the box to her. She shrugged.

"Yeah, but you're going to need it," she stated grabbing the box from him.

"Still. The stuff takes like shit," Danny said and Cara rolled her eyes.

"Why do you think I got the orange flavored one?" she asked and Danny grabbed the other Nicorette box and pack of cigarettes and walked out of the store. Cara grabbed the change and followed her brother out of the store and they continued walking down the street. Danny found a spot near an entrance to Central Park and they sat down on a bench. Danny opened the pack of cigarettes and pulled one out, lighting it. Cara watched him and rubbed her eyes as he took a puff of the cigarette.

"I thought you said you quit," Cara said.

"I'm stressed,"

"Lame,"

"Lame what?"

"Excuse. Just because you're stressed doesn't mean you should start smokin' again,"

"Well… it's better than…"

"Oh don't give me that crap again,"

"What crap?"

"The same old story!"

"Right,"

They stayed silent for a few more minutes before Cara looked back at her brother and shook her head.

"I'm telling you, you should have eloped," Cara said and Danny gave her a look, "Would have saved you the stress and the worry about having to plan a wedding,"

Danny rolled his eyes, "This isn't even a big wedding. It's small, less than 100 people. Not like we're inviting the whole NYPD,"

"Ha, that would be interesting right there," Cara said and Danny gently pushed her. Danny took another drag of the cigarette and flicked some of the ashes off the end of it. They sat in silence for a while longer before Cara decided it was time for another question.

"What exactly where you two arguing about anyway?" Cara asked.

"Live band or DJ," Danny said in a flat tone causing Cara to burst into laughter. Danny gave her a look, "What the hell is so funny?"

"Live band or DJ. Personally, I thought you were arguing about whether to have Flack or a priest marry you," Cara said falling into a fit of giggles again. Danny looked at her in shock.

"Cara, I am very annoyed with you,"

"Yeah! I'm having a blast. You two are so stubborn,"

"We're stressed,"

"And that brings us full circle to the cigarettes," Cara said pointing to the cigarette in Danny's hand, a huge smile still plastered on her face. Danny rolled his eyes, flicked the cigarette to the ground and squashed it with his foot. He pulled out a Nicoette box from his pocket and pulled out a piece of gum and popped it into his mouth.

"Good man," Cara said and Danny rolled his eyes and waved her off. Cara looked down the small path and smiled.

"Hey look, it's Lindsay," Cara said and pointed to Lindsay, who was still pretty far down the path. Her hands where in her pockets, eyes to the ground and her feet seemed to be dragging against the pavement. Danny slowly stopped chewing on the gum and watched Lindsay as she made her way closer to where the sibling were sitting.

"I feel really bad now," he grumbled rubbing his hands together and looking at his little sister. Cara rolled her eyes.

"Than go apologize you big gump," she said pushing him onto his feet and toward Lindsay. Danny walked toward Lindsay and Cara watched as they talk and at first, Lindsay looked like she wasn't going to hear any of it. Then, she relaxed and to Cara, it seemed as though they had reached an agreement. Cara smiled, but than something hit her. A realization.

_She better not find those __cigarettes__…_

"Danny, why do you smell like cigarettes?" Cara heard Lindsay ask Danny.

_Too late…_

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed and please review.  
**


	28. April 27, 2009

**Alright, new chapter! Yay! Hope you all are enjoying this story because I'm having fun writing it. We are getting closer to wedding day... which should be very exciting. Thanks for all the wonderful reviews and keep them coming. Love to know what you all think. **

**Disclaimer: I own S. 1, 2, and 3. Anything else?**

**All mistakes belong to me. **

* * *

Diary Entry

April 27, 2009

Mood: Tired and very excited.

So, the date of the wedding is getting closer and even I can feel the pressure and I'm just along for the ride. Danny and Lindsay have picked out their best man and maid – of – honor. Flack and Stella. That's no surprise right there. I could have told you that months ago. Get this; Danny played a prank on me, telling me that I was going to be the flower girl. I was about to kill him when Lindsay walked in a said that her 4 year old niece was more than willing to perform the duties of being flower girl.

Praise the Lord.

So, like I said, or shall I say Danny said, the wedding will be small. The Messers: Me, mom, dad, my four cousins, a total of 6 children from my cousins and my two uncles and two aunts. Yes, we have a small family and personally I don't see a problem with that. I guess that's what you get when your mother is an only child.

On the Monroe side, it's Lindsay's mom, dad, three brothers, one little sister, three nephews, two nieces, two uncles and three aunts and one very elder grandmother.

Than we've got ahh… Flack, Stella, Hawkes, Mac, Sid, Adam, Kendall, Angell, and a couple of Lindsay's old friends from Montana. Okay… now that I do the math… that's 45 people. Oh and Andrew is coming too so that makes 46.

The two seemed not to be as stressed anymore, which is good. I mean, it could be worse…

Alright, I need to finish up on homework and I'm going to go visit Andrew. Haven't seen him in a while… well, besides school. Alright, I need to go and be… productive.

_CSI:NYCSI:NYCSI:NY_

Cara was bored. Walking up the very quiet streets of her neighbor sometimes helped her relax and escape the craziness of her life. The only problem was making sure she didn't get jumped by anyone. That would ruin the whole idea of take a walk. She passed by Jake's home. She paused and looked up at the home. It seemed darker, less happy than it was before Jake had died. Cara had heard that Jake's brother had taken Jake's death very personal and was blaming himself. The whole family had gone secluded after the death and it was rare to even see Jake's father out and about.

Cara continued walking and decided that she needed to see Andrew. She hadn't seen him in quiet awhile and wanted to see him. She slowly made her way down a couple of blocks and to a small house that sat on the corner of the street. Cara walked up to the front door and knocked.

"Andrew, it's me. Come on open up!" Cara said letting her arm drop to her side as she stared at the door. There was silence from inside the house and Cara knew that Andrew was home, but why wasn't he answering the door?

Going with her gut, she pushed opened the door into the darken hallway. Looking around, she noticed that one light was on in a room, a room she recognized as the kitchen. She walked into the kitchen to find Andrew sitting at the small table, his head hidden in his arm and a bottle sitting next to him. Cara gave a look and walked over to him, gently resting her hand on his back.

"Andrew…"

His head shot up and he looked at Cara and rubbed his eyes, "Cara, what are you doing here?"

Cara looked, "I came here on your request. Remember, you asked me after school today to come over," she said.

"Oh… right," Andrew said grabbing the bottle and walking over to the recycle.

"Hold it," Cara said and walked over to Andrew, grabbing the bottle from his hand, "Is this beer?" she asked.

Andrew gave a small nod and Cara sighed, "Okay… so you were trying to get drunk, why?" she asked giving her boyfriend a look.

Andrew grabbed the bottle out of her hands and threw it into the recycle, "It's none of your business," he said quietly and Cara walked over to him.

"This is my business. I care for you and I'm not going to sit around and watch you screw up," Cara said.

"I'm just like my father," he said quietly, leaning against the counter his chin resting on his chest.

Cara sighed, she knew about Andrew's father. He wasn't exactly the kindest person on the planet and that mainly had to do with the amount of alcohol that he drank on a daily basis. Andrew was the main recipient of his father's anger and Cara had a feeling that he had just received one of those lectures again. Cara rested her hand on his cheek and shook her head.

"Andrew, you are not at all like your father. If you were do you really think I would hide it from you for all this time," she said and Andrew shook his head and Cara pulled him into a hug. Andrew fell into the hug, hiding his face in the crock of her neck and giving off a small sigh.

"So, you still coming to the wedding?" Cara asked and Andrew laughed into her shoulder.

"You do know how to change a subject," Andrew said.

Cara shrugged, "Hey, it's me," she said and Andrew stood back up and nodded.

"I still plan too,"

"Good," Cara said with a smile.

_CSI:NYCSI:NYCSI:NY_

Danny let his head fall on the kitchen table as he did a small victory dance. With Lindsay working that day, he had the pleasure (pleasure, yeah right) of finishing up the final arrangements for the wedding, excluding the tuxes and dresses. He had finished his mission with 1 hour to spare. Spare to get some dinner in the oven so he and Lindsay could sit down and enjoy a meal together.

The whole wedding seemed to be falling into place. They had the reservations at the place they wanted to have it, the reception was going to be at the Messer's home, which was good and hopefully could hold the 40 something people they were going to invite. Lindsay still needed to pick out her dress (She had told Danny she had an idea of what she wanted) and Stella's dress and Danny and Flack needed to go the Men's Warehouse to pick something up for themselves.

Standing up, he stretched and pulled everything that was one the table off the table and went to pull out some pasta that was hidden in the cabinets. He grabbed a pot, filled it with water and set it on the stove while trying to find some pasta sauce that he knew he had somewhere in the kitchen. Danny had never been much of a cook, his mom taught him the basics such as pasta and salad and Danny knew had to make a few specialty meals, but not many.

The Messer's as a whole wasn't a cooking family. Nicolas cooked sometimes, Mariya was the main (and best) cook out of the family and Cara… well Cara tried to cook, but just never seemed to get the science behind cooking. She had a hard time cooking pasta and her mother barely let Cara go into the kitchen alone unless someone was with her. Danny loved bugging Cara about her lack of ability to cook, but Cara just smiled and said that she was glad they lived in a city with such good takeout.

Danny smiled as the memory played through his mind. Cara was almost exactly like him in so many ways, but also she was very different from him in so many ways. He glanced over at the pot of water, which was beginning to boil. He grabbed the box of pasta and poured the pasta into the water and he used a spatula to get the pasta underneath the boiling water. Setting the spatula down, he again smiled to himself.

He was getting married. To the perfect woman.

Danny knew, that almost 3 years ago, whenever someone would ask him if he would fall in love… or even marry, he would laugh. He had promised he would have the bachelor status for as long as he could hold it for. Than Lindsay came into the picture. Everyone knew that he didn't like Lindsay; he actually hated the woman, hated her for taking his best friend's spot on the team. To be honest, he was going on a hating spree at that period of time. Not only was he mad at Lindsay, but mad at Mac for firing Aiden and mad at Cara for pulling a smart ass comment on him the night before Lindsay came into work for the first time.

When he first met her, he made a vow to make every moment with him a living hell. He would play pranks on her (telling her that Mac liked to be called 'Sir' was the first of many.), give her a nickname he knew would annoy her, and just play rookie jokes on her as often as he possibly could. As time went on, he began to hate her less and less and began to enjoy her company and loved it whenever Mac stuck Lindsay and him together on cases. He loved her enthusiasm, her smile, her laugh, everything. After the case of the 'exercise' bombings, Danny offered to give her a ride home, which she gratefully accepted, causing his stomach to do a full somersault. Danny knew he should be worrying about Don, but something told him that he would be okay and right now, he needed to block out the hospitals and bad things that had happened over the past several weeks. That was the day both knew that their relationship was more than banting and flirting with one another.

That's when Danny took a risk.

Danny remembered he was when he asked her out. His heart was pounding in his chest and his palms were all sweaty. Danny was never nervous when asking a lady out on a date with him, but Lindsay was no ordinary lady. When she said yes, it took all of Danny's will power to stop from yelling 'Yes!' at the top of his voice. That was the night she stood him up. The week she told him that she wasn't ready for a relationship, but liked him, a lot. It broke his heart to watch her walk away from him that day and he wanted to follow her, he really did. His instincts said yes, but his legs said no.

Than, she left for Montana. The card was what he needed, but he still wanted closer to the fact she hadn't said goodbye to him the day he left. That was the time he followed his instincts, his heart, and went to Montana for her. He didn't care that when they returned, there was a newspaper article printed out with a picture of their almost kiss, hanging on the break room refrigerator. He didn't care about the phone call he received from Cara, saying that he had fallen in love and there was nothing to stop him.

Danny snickered to himself and was jolted back to reality when he smelt something burning. Looking at the pasta sauce, he swore and quickly pulled the pot off the stove. He could hear the sauce bubbling up and popping. He gave a cautious look at the sauce and shook his head. The sauce was ruined and he went to throw it in the garbage. The pasta was still good though, all he had to do was throw some cheese and butter on the pasta and he would be good. Pulling out two plates, he heard the key in the lock of the front door and it open and quietly close. He drained the water out of the pot and separated the pasta onto the two different plates before adding some butter and cheese. Five minutes later, Lindsay walked into the kitchen, her face looked washed and she was wearing sweat pants and an old t-shirt that used to be Danny's.

"Hey Montana," Danny said setting the two plates on the table and smiling, "I made dinner AND I finished the wedding plans that needed to be finished off,"

Lindsay nodded and sighed, "Thanks Danny," she said and Danny looked at her.

"What's up?" he asked knowing that something was wrong.

She shook her head, "Bad day. 12 year old boy was killed by his mother," she shook her head, "World is so cruel sometimes,"

Danny walked over and pulled her into a hug, hoping to just take some of the bad day away from her. Lindsay hung onto Danny as she rested her cheek against his chest, listening to his heart beat. Several minutes later, Danny spoke up.

"The pasta's going to get cold," he murmured.

Lindsay looked over at the set table and smiled, "So you said you finished most of the wedding plans and made dinner," she smiled at him, "Thanks Dan,"

Danny shrugged, "Oh… it was nothing," he said waving her off and Lindsay smiled. They walked over to the table and sat down to eat, talking about things that did not have to involve the word 'cases' or the mention of the wedding. It was a peaceful night, maybe one of the last peaceful nights they would get before the wedding.

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**Hope you enjoyed and please review. **


	29. May 1, 2009

**Hey look. I'm back! Finally. Sorry this took me so long. Guess I'm trying to go back and juggle school and writing after being on break for a weak. Thank you very much for all of the reviews and lets see if we can get into the lower 90's. That would be AMAZING! Thanks for sticking with me.  
**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except Cara. **

**All mistakes belong to me. **

* * *

Diary Entry 

May 1, 2009

Mood: Banging my head against a wall… that's what.

Alright, so the wedding is coming closer and closer. They already have people RSVPing and now is the time to find dresses in general. Yippy. To be honest, I just came back from dress shopping with my mom. All I wanted was a simple dress, but NO! There is no place on the planet that sells plain, simple dresses that I can wear for a partial summer/spring wedding. I hate shopping with all my heart.

Anyway, I cannot wait for this wedding. It's going to be very exciting and guess what? Danny and Lindsay changed where they want the reception. Which is good for me, but annoying for them. Oh well, you win some you lose some. We have a friend who owns this decent hotel down by the place the wedding is taking place and he offered it up for the night. So that's very nice of him and we are having the reception down at a hotel. Which is exciting.

Andrew has disappeared. I have no idea where he went, but he's not at school, not at home and not answering his cell phone. I'm getting a little worried. Alright… not a little, very worried.

_CSI:NYCSI:NYCSI:NY_

Cara walked out the edge of her driveway where her mailbox sat and she was quietly talking to herself, about how she hated getting the mail and wished her father would do it every once in a while to get himself active again. She opened up the mailbox and grabbed the mail, still grumbling to herself as she looked through the small stack of letters. Mainly bills, but one letter caught her attention. It was addressed to her.

She stuck the mail under her arm and looked at the one envelope that was hers. Shrugging, and not recognizing the address, she opened it and pulled out a sheet of paper. Unfolding the paper she began to read. Her eyes scanned the paper and she shook her head and shoved the paper back into the envelope, her anger very present. She needed to talk to someone, and that someone was in Manhattan.

_Perfect._

_CSI:NYCSI:NYCSI:NY_

Danny shifted the box he was carrying to a more stable position under his arm as he stared at the elevator walls. He had just finished processing a huge scene and had about three more boxes to grab out of the SUV down in the garage. Tapping his foot, the elevator beeped and the doors opened and he stepped out into the lab that was busy per usual. Heading toward Trace, Adam stepped out and rubbed his hands together trying to look happy.

"More evidence?" he asked.

"I've got three more boxes downstairs," Danny said and handed the box over to Adam, "Here, start processing and I'll get the rest of the evidence," he said and Adam nodded.

"Oh yeah, Stella told me to tell you that your sister's in the break room," Adam said.

Danny nodded, "Why is she here?"

"Stella didn't say," Adam said off handily as he headed back into Trace and Danny headed over to the break room to see why his sister was even at the lab on a school night. He entered the lab to see Cara sitting at one of the tables, staring off into space. He went and sat down next to her.

"So, what's up with the surprise visit?" he asked and Cara shrugged.

"Alright, not going to talk? Well, you are going to help me carry evidence back from the garage so I can at least get this stuff done, alright?" he said standing up and Cara nodded and followed him over to the elevator. Down in the garage, the siblings pulled out the evidence from the back of the truck. Danny groaned when he noticed one of the boxes had slid to the back of the bed of the truck.

"Can you get that?" Danny asked.

Cara looked at the box and looked at Danny, "Excuse me?"

"Get the box,"

"Why?"

"You're younger,"

"Lame…"

"Get the fricken box, will ya?" Danny said giving his sister an annoyed look and Cara sighed and jumped up into the bed of the truck. She walked over and grabbed the box, but noticed that most of the evidence had fallen out.

"So, why are you here?" Danny asked leaning against the truck as Cara picked up the evidence that had scattered over the bed.

"I got a letter from Andrew,"

"Yeah?"

"He's upstate with his dad and he broke it off with me," Cara grumbled.

"See, I told you he was no good," Danny said and Cara gave him a look and held up an evidence bag.

"If this wasn't evidence, I'd chuck it at your head," she grumbled setting the bag back in the box and slid it across the bed to where Danny was standing. Danny grabbed the box and set it on the ground and looked back at Cara.

"So, what are you going to do?" Danny asked.

"Get over him, move on," she shook her head, "Ahh… the relationship wasn't working anyway,"

"Most don't work out," Danny said looking at Cara who laughed.

"Says the man who by the time he was 18, went through almost every girl in high school," Cara said walking across the bed of the truck.

"Oh come one, I was in high school. I was young…"

"Naïve, stupid, and horny," Cara said dramatically, throwing her arms out and losing her balance and falling down in the bed of the truck.

Danny burst into laughter and through his laughter asked, "You alright?"

Cara looked up, "No," she grumbled and Danny looked at her. She was clutching her right arm close to her body and Danny sighed.

"You cannot keep yourself from getting hurt, can you?" he asked and hit his hand against the edge of the truck, "Come here,"

Cara slid to the edge of the truck and her feet hung off the side. Danny beckoned her to hold out her arm to him and she shook her head no.

"Come on, Cara. Please, I want to make sure you are alright," Danny said.

"It's just a sprain," Cara said and Danny knew the tone of her voice all too well.

"Yeah, I bet my ass it's a sprain," Danny said gently taking her arm and Cara pulled it back.

"Alright, we're going to have Doc take a look at it to see what he thinks," Danny said and Cara rolled her eyes.

"I'm fine!"

_10 minutes later_

"You definitely have a break," Hawkes said and Cara groaned.

"No, it's fine,"

"Cara, its swelling and you can't move your arm without almost bursting into tears," Danny said trying to reason with his stubborn sister.

Cara sighed and looked at Hawkes and Danny, "This means that I have to go to the hospital, again," she grumbled.

Hawkes nodded, "Yes, this means hospital,"

"Fantastic," she grumbled and looked down at her arm before looking at her brother, "I blame you for this,"

"What?"

"If it wasn't for you, this wouldn't have happened," She said.

"Oh… you just want someone else to blame it on instead of yourself," Danny said.

"You could have told me that the truck bed was wet," Cara said.

"I knew it was wet, but I didn't think it was that wet," Danny said and Hawkes held up his hands.

"Alright, children. Danny, I'll take her to the hospital while you finish up here and I'll bring her back," Hawkes said, "That alright with you two?"

Both siblings nodded and Hawkes smiled, "Good, because you two don't have a choice,"

* * *

**Alright, thanks for reading and please review!  
**


	30. May 21, 2009

**Here is FINALLY a new chapter. Chapter 30 holy moly. Thanks for sticking with me through this whole thing. It's been crazy. Hope you enjoy and please review. I am so close to 100 and that would be AWESOME! **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. **

**All mistakes are mine. **

* * *

Diary Entry

May 21, 2009

Mood: Umm… I'm having a hard time writing.

Alright, I'm having a hard time writing cause I broke my arm (wonderful) and I have a cast. I was drugged on pain killers for the past couple of days after I got the cast and Flack took one look at me and wanted to drag me in to get a drug test. It was Lindsay who saved me by explaining to Flack that I had pain killers in my system. Yippy.

I got an orange cast. It kind of matches with the dress for the wedding and at the same time, it doesn't really match. Oh well, I'll make it work for the wedding. Instead of Andrew coming with me because he's upstate and I am not talking to him, Kristin is going to join me. She's excited about coming and I'm excited that she's exciting. She's also helping me with some things that I want to do at the wedding. Should be fun :D

Alright, my arms hurts, I'm going to go sulk in my sorrows because my arm is broken…

_CSI:NYCSI:NYCSI:NY_

Cara looked at her blank locker door and kicked it opened. The door swung open and Cara shoved her math book and history book into the locker before pulling out her science and French book and from behind her, she heard someone speak.

"Hey, look. It's Messer. I heard after her boyfriend broke up with her she went down to Coney Island and…" Before the guy could finish his, Cara was up to his face, her eyes narrowed.

"Finish that sentence and I swear I'll make sure you don't wake up for a week," Cara growled. The guy laughed.

"Oh really… I want to see a girl like you to beat up a guy like me," The guy said crossing his arms and giving Cara a cocky grin.

"Why I atta…" Cara growled and lunged at the guy, but was held back by someone. The guy back up, holding his hands out looking at his friends laughing.

"Cara, calm down!"

Cara looked behind her to see Luke holding her back and Sam and Kristin looking worried. They beckoned her to follow them and Cara threw a look back at the guy and followed her two friends, with Luke bringing up the rear. They entered an empty classroom and Luke closed the door as Cara sat down on top of one of the desks and set her books down.

"What's going on, Car? You've been acting strange for the past few weeks," Kristin said leaning against the teacher's desk and looking at her friend. Cara shrugged.

"Nothing's wrong," Cara said giving her three friends a look.

"You sure about that?" Luke asked from the door.

"Yes, I'm positive," Cara said and looked at her friends. They didn't seem convinced.

"How'd you break your arm?" Sam asked and Cara's mouth dropped open.

"I slipped in the back of the Avalanche bed at the lab and landed on my wrist wrong. Okay?" Cara said.

Kristin nodded, "We've been hearing other things…"

"Other things? And only now you are just asking me what the heck is going on?! Next time, don't go behind my back to try and figure out what is wrong. Just say it to my face alright?" Cara said, jumping off the desk, grabbing her books and leaving the classroom.

_CSI:NYCSI:NYCSI:NY_

Danny was sitting in the A/V lab, running through security tape that a hotel had sent over to help him in the investigation of a murder. Rewinding the footage again, he watched the screen hoping that something that would pop up at him. Leaning back in his chair, he shook his head and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. Moving the chair over to another computer, he pulled up a data base and entered a name, hoping something would come up. And he was right.

He had searched Jacob Jackson, who was Andrew's father and saw that he came up in the data base, showing that he was in an alcohol rehabilitation center and was going to be there for a good 6 months. That explained why Andrew had suddenly disappeared on Cara. Closing out of the window, he returned his attention to the evidence he was looking at and closely watched it as it went through a more footage. He smiled as he slowed down the footage even more and picked out the suspect from a crowd of people. Bringing up the image, he sent it to Stella and shut down the computer.

Danny stood up and stretched, checking his watch in the process. He had gotten off a couple hours ago, but the case he was working had caused him to clock in overtime for the third time that week. Overtime was getting old really, really quick. Danny decided that he had spent enough time at the lab and began his short journey back to his apartment. When he got back, he found Lindsay asleep on the couch, a book in her lap. He walked over and picked up the book and placed it back on the shelf and grabbed an afghan and draped it over her. Lindsay's eyes opened up and she gave a small stretch.

"When did you get home?" she asked her voice horse with sleep.

"Minutes ago," Danny said sitting down next to her and she snuggled into his chest and closed her eyes. Danny wrapped an arm around her shoulder and sat back in the couch, to tired to move from his comfortable position on the couch. Both feel back asleep and Lindsay woke up several hours later, the sun was down and the city was alive and well, like usual. She stood up and stretched, getting the kinks out of her back and rolling her neck to loosen it. She shuffled over to the kitchen and grabbed a glass of water. Her eyes glanced back to where Danny was sleeping, his head resting on the back of the cushion, his mouth slightly opened and he was snoring. Shaking her head, she walked over to him nd gently shook him awake. He groaned and opened one of his eyes and looked at Lindsay.

"Hey…"

"Hey." Lindsay answered running her hand through his hair, "You need to go sleep on the bed," she said and Danny nodded standing up and Lindsay gently led him to the bed and he dropped down on the bed, fully clothed and clutching the pillow to under his head. Lindsay laughed and dropped down next to him and Danny wrapped his arms around her waist unconsciously pulled her closer to his chest. Lindsay sighed and fell asleep. She woke up the next morning to find Danny's side of the bed empty and when she walked into the kitchen to find a note on the chalk board explaining that he was called to a scene early and he would see her at the lab. Lindsay stretched and smiled as she disappeared into the bathroom to get ready for work.

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**Some nice fluff for the end. Hope you enjoyed and please review. **


	31. May 27, 2009

**Another chapter finally. Blame school, sorry guys. Hope you enjoy this chapter and hello to all the lurkers and thanks to all who reviewed. Please keep it up, tells me I know you like the story. **

**All mistakes are mine. **

**Disclaimer: Nothing I own. **

* * *

Diary Entry

Date: May 27, 2009

Mood: Stressed… dear God I HATE EXAMS!

Alright, I have exams tomorrow and Friday morning. Oh gross… I am so stressed. I was crying from French all the way through lunch AND I'm PMSing. God, this sucks. I hate being a woman, I hate having my arm broken and walking around with a giant cast and my friends think I'm going crazy, but I'm not. At least I hope I'm not going crazy. Again.

So, exams in French, science, and math. My brain feels as though it's going to explode and I just want the school year to be over. I want to get out of school and enjoy summer and just get some relaxation instead of stressing out over stupid stuff. Gosh, I have never felt so fucked up in a long time. Personally, I am so close to just disappearing until school gets out and not worrying about anything anymore. Wouldn't that be so nice? Sometimes I wish life was easier than that, but I guess you could say its not that easy. Crap… really wish it was.

_CSI:NYCSI:NYCSI:NY_

_Two__ Day__s Later__…_

Cara looked up from her Chemistry test she was working on. All around her, kid's heads were pressed against the paper as people tried to remember the size of a mole, or other important Chemistry stuff that Cara wished she could just chuck out the window. She gave a small sigh and continued to work on her test and what seemed like several minutes later a teacher walked up to the front of the classroom and cleared her throat.

"Please put your pencils down. The test is over… Bobby!" the teacher scurried over to the corner of the classroom and the other students took this as a dismissal. They stood up, many stretched and gave sideways glances to their friends and picked up their stuff before making their way out of the classroom. Cara slammed her notebook shut and stuffed it in her messenger bag before swinging it over her shoulder and heading out the door and to the front doors of the school. Behind her, she could hear her name being called out. Not positive if it was her the person was yelling for, she continued walking until she heard, "Cara Messer! Stop walking right now!"

Cara followed the command of the voice and felt an arm being swung over her shoulder.

"Did you find that test hard or easy?" Kristin asked as they walked down the sidewalk and Cara shook her head.

"It was okay, I guess. Wasn't too hard, wasn't too easy. What did you think?" she asked and Kristin shrugged.

"It was good, I liked it," she said with a smile. Cara raised an eyebrow.

"You're a dork," she said and Kristin laughed.

"You only wish I was a dork," Kristin said and the two friends walked down the sidewalk continuing to talk about what they were planning to do once school got out.

"Mom wants to go down to California to visit our family. Not exactly what I want to do," Kristin said as they headed down the block that both girls lived on.

"You have family in California?" Cara asked adjusting her messenger bag. Kristin nodded.

"They live in LA of all the places," Kristin said shaking her head, "You want to come?" Cara looked taken aback.

"Go to California? No thanks. I don't have the money to pay for the airfare and can you see me walking down the streets of LA?" Cara asked and Kristin shook her head.

"Yeah, but could you see me? Think about it. I already asked mom and she said it was cool, seeing that you have never been out of the Tri-State area," Kristin said and Cara opened her mouth.

"I have been out of the Tri-State area!" she said and it was Kristin's turn to raise an eyebrow.

"Where did you go?" She asked and Cara shrugged.

"The Bronx?"

Kristin laughed, "I'm still invited to your brother's wedding right…?" she asked and Cara nodded.

"You are helping me with my toast," she said and Kristin laughed.

"You have to do a toast?" she asked and Cara nodded.

"Trust me, you'll like this. Come on, we need to look through some CDs," Cara said grabbing Kristin's arm and they made their way to Cara's house.

_CSI:NYCSI:NYCSI:NY_

"Messer! Have you seen this?" Flack came up the hallway of the CSI lab and thrusted a piece of paper under Danny's nose. Danny took the paper and put it on top of the folder he was holding and read the paper.

"Charity event?" he asked looking up from the paper and Flack nodded.

"Keep reading," Flack said looking very excited. Danny shrugged and continued reading and smiling.

"A charity baseball game against the NYFD, I'm likin' this more and more," Danny said with a smile and gave the paper back to Flack.

"You want to do it. I'm already recruiting some other rookies for the team," Flack said looking down at the paper.

"You work quickly," Danny said and Flack shrugged.

"I knew about this for quiet awhile. We're also looking for people to sell t-shirts and food. Would your sister be willing?" Flack asked and the two began walking to the break room.

"She'd be more interested in playing the game than selling, but I'll see what I can get out of her," Danny said as they walked into the break room. Lindsay and Hawkes overheard Flack and Danny talking and both looked up from their lunch.

"Convince her to do what?" Hawkes asked.

"Cara. There's a charity baseball event going on between t the NYPD and NYFD," Flack explained.

"Oh, anything we can do to help?" Lindsay asked and Hawkes nodded.

"Just helping out selling, maybe even playing," Flack said, "Wait till after the wedding though, you guys are going to go crazy in a few weeks," Flack told them and Danny looked over at him.

"And you would know this because…?" Danny asked.

"My two older sisters," Flack said simply and Danny nodded in agreement turning back to the coffee machine.

"The baseball game would be fun though, enjoyable. Should be interesting to see who would win," Lindsay said.

"PD all the way. We are not losing to the Fire department," Danny said as the coffee finished and he poured himself some.

"You have something against the fire department?" Hawkes asked Danny who just shrugged.

"Last time there was a charity game we got our asses kicked by the fire department and Danny still hasn't let that down," Flack said.

"The fire department cheated and you know if, Flack. You even said it," Danny said turning to Flack who held his hands up in surrender.

"Alright, alright. This game isn't until July so we have plenty of time to get back at the FD. Don't worry about it," Flack said and Mac walked into the break room and the conversation stopped.

"A baseball game?" Mac asked as the group watched him grab some coffee and gave a small smile to the group, "Sign me up,"

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**Please review and I hope you enjoyed. **


	32. The Wedding

**Holy moly, I've updated. smacks fanfic wouldn't let me update for god knows how long.** **The moment many of you have been looking forward to, hope you enjoy!**

**All mistakes belong to me. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything from CSI:NY. New eppy next week!**

* * *

Cara was sitting at a table near a window at the church. Her small notebook was opened, but she wasn't writing, just tapping her pen against the pad, her eyes gazing out the window. The day had finally arrived. After months of waiting, preparing and… stress, the day had finally come that Danny Messer was going to marry Lindsay Monroe. She looked down at her dress and frowned. Now that she looked at her dress, she didn't really like it though she was told hundreds of times that it was very pretty on her.

Pretty? '_How old am I, six?'_ she thought to herself as she closed her notebook shut and stared at her cast, '_At least the cast goes with the dress,'_

Sighing, she stuck her notebook in the bag that was at her feet. It wasn't her bag to be specific, it was Kristin's and she would be spending the night at Cara's house, and she dragged a large bag to the wedding. Cara snickered at her friend's idea of 'light packing' and gently moved the bag closer to the wall with her foot.

"Messer, didn't expect to see you here so early," came a voice and over walked Flack.

"Good to see you too," she answered, "What are you doing here?" Cara asked sitting back in her chair and crossing her arms.

"I'm the best man," he said and puffed out his chest a little. Cara laughed.

"Don't boost your ego to much there, Detective," Cara said and Flack sulked a little.

"I'm never coming to you again for an ego boost," he mumbled as he sat down in the chair across from her. Cara raised an eyebrow.

"You are just figuring this out?" When Flack nodded, she chuckled, "And you are supposed to be a decent detective,"

There were a few minutes of silence before she spoke up again, "Where's Dan?" she asked and Flack pointed over his shoulder.

"I think he's beginning to panic," Flack said.

"Why?"

"He's getting married. He's afraid Lindsay's going to get cold feet or him collapsing during the wedding or some other damn thing," Flack said and Cara stood up, "Where are you going?"

"To go talk to my brother," Cara said turning to Flack, "Make sure he doesn't hurt himself,"

"That's my job," Flack said standing up and Cara held out her hand, "Not so fast, you need to watch my friend's bag until she gets back," Cara said and turned on her heel.



"Thanks a lot, Cara!" Flack said and Cara just waved him off and she found her brother in a small room off to the side. He was standing in front of a mirror trying to fix his bow tie, but failing miserably at it.

"You are going to end up chocking yourself," Cara said walking into the room and Danny dropped his hands and gave his sister a look.

"You think you can do better than me?" Danny asked, "With a cast?"

"Heck ya, who do you think did dad's bowtie?" Cara said coming up to him and began working on the tie.

"I thought ma did it?"Danny said as he gave a look down at Cara who was working on the bowtie.

"No, Ma was getting ready and dad was having the same issues as you," Cara said and finished off the bow tie, "There, now it's fine."

Danny looked down at the bow tie, "It's crooked," he mumbled and Cara rolled her eyes.

"It's fine. Everything is going to be fine," Cara said and Danny nodded.

"I didn't expect to be nervous," He said and she smiled.

"You are supposed to be nervous. I had a whole conversation with dad last night about how he felt," she shrugged, "I wanted to make sure I knew what to say," she said and Danny shook his head.

"Always on top of things, aren't ya?" he said turning back to the mirror and giving himself one final look over.

"I try," Cara said looking over his shoulder, "You look fine, Danny. Stop fretting. I'm going to get Flack so you can bug him now," she said and turned to leave and Danny watched her leave. Flack showed up a couple minutes later shaking his head.

"You have one bossy sister," Flack said turning to his friend who smiled.

"I guess I can just be glad for that," he said.

_CSI:NYCSI:NYCSI:NY_

Hours later, people where filing in and Mariya walked over to her daughter who was standing in the back with her friend, talking quietly to one another. She stood next to Cara and handed her a video camera.

"Could you please film from back here?" Mariya asked her daughter and Cara gave her mom a look.

"Ma… you serious?" Cara asked taking the camera from her mother anyway.

"Yes, all you need to do is get them walking in and than hand it to your cousin. He'll tape everything else," Mariya said and walked to the front of the church with Cara rolling her eyes and Kristin smiling.



"Sucker," Kristin said and Cara frowned.

"Shut up,"

10 minutes later, Danny and Flack were standing up at the front and Cara was standing off to the side in the back of the church, making sure that the camera would work. Two young children stood in front of her, quietly talking to one another and sizing the flowers and rings up and giving each other looks. Cara watched the little boy, who was the ring bearer, out of the corner of her eye with a small smile.

Lindsay walked out from a back room and Cara smiled, "You look spiffy," Cara said and Lindsay gave a smile. Her dress was simple, not to over elegant. It went down to the floor where it flowered out.

"Thank you," Lindsay said with a smile and Lindsay's father walked over and hooked his arm around hers and placed a kiss on her cheek. Cara held up her camera and quietly narrated;

"Lindsay Monroe and Mr. Monroe before the wedding," she said and Mr. Monroe smiled.

"You ready Lindsay?" Cara asked, her face still hidden behind the camera and Lindsay smiled.

"I'm ready," She said and Cara turned and they heard the music start. Cara gave one final smile before hurrying to the front of the procession, past Flack and Stella where she mumbled, "Very nice," and up to where the two kids were standing. The girl was trying to get the boy to move who had no want to move, or no want.

"Come on! We need to walk down the aisle…" the girl whined and pulled on the little boy's hand, jumping up in down in place. The boy shook his head pulling back his arm from the little girl. Cara looked over at Lindsay, who was stifling giggles. Someone in the back row waved Cara over and handed her a bag of gummy bears. She took them and kneeled down next to the little boy.

"Here," she said and handed him three gummy bears. The boy looked at the gummy bears and grabbed three gummy bears before holding his hand out for more.

"I'll make you a deal, I'll give you three more and then after the wedding I'll give you a little more, how bout that?" she whispered to the boy. He seemed to give it a few seconds of consideration and decided he liked the terms. Cara placed three gummy bears in his hand and he followed the little girl down the aisle, his hand in hers. The audience seemed to all smile at the two younger kids who were now practically skipping down the aisle. Cara turned her attention to the camera and quickly turned it to record just as Flack and Stella began heading down the aisle.

The music changed to the wedding march and Lindsay and her father walked up to the front door. Cara gave her the thumbs up and she gave a confident smile and the two began their walk down the aisle. Cara focused the camera on Danny whose mouth seemed to drop to the floor. Cara stifled a giggle and zoomed in closer to his face before she realized that her mother would be seeing the footage and wouldn't enjoy just seeing Danny's mouth hanging wide open. She moved the camera out and recorded 

until Lindsay was given away and she slipped over to her older cousin and thrusted the camera into his hand.

"Your turn," she mumbled to him and her cousin gave her a look.

"Don't look at me, look at my mother," Cara whispered before slipping off and finding Kristin in the third row. The wedding went smoothly and Cara and Kristin couldn't help but snicker when Mariya began tearing up when Danny and Lindsay were reading their vows to one another. Though, Cara had to admit that both vows made her a little emotional, though she wouldn't admit that to anyone except herself.

"You may now kiss the bride," the pastor finally said and a loud cheer (mainly from the CSI section) came when the two finally kissed. Cara clapped along with everyone as they watched the new couple walk back down the aisle all smiles. People began filing out behind the happy couple and they slowly dispersed down the street, some to cars others just wanting to walk down to where the reception was going to be held. Cara and Kristin hung back of the group, waiting for several minutes before either of them spoke.

"That was really nice," Kristin paused, "You ready of this whole thing?" she asked.

Cara gave her a look, "What? My toast or…"

"Having a sister – in – law?" Kristin asked and Cara crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes.

"I'm excited. Think about it, Lindsay is really nice and perfect for Danny." She said and the two began walking down the side walk. Kristin nodded.

"I liked this wedding, a lot of nicer than my cousin's wedding," Kristin shook her head, "To much. This was nice. Simple and nice," Kristin said and Cara shook her head kicking a rock down the sidewalk as the two continued down the street to the area the reception was being held at.

_20 minutes later_

There was music playing, people laughing and talking and others congratulating the new couple when Cara and Kristin finally made an appearance at the reception. Mariya angrily pulled them aside to talk to them while Stella and Hawkes were giving Danny and Lindsay hugs.

"Congratulations," Hawkes said giving Lindsay a hug and shaking Danny's hand, "Took you two long enough," he said and Danny shot Hawkes a look. Flack came over and eloped Lindsay into a brotherly hug, "Finally, my two best friends are married," he said with a smile and looked at Danny who he hugged too.

"You seem very excited," Danny said gave Flack a hug and he shrugged.

"That's because I am." He said and the group made their way into the reception room where voices where raised. Nicolas and Lindsay's father were standing near the cake and Nicolas seemed to be listening intently to what Lindsay's father had to say about living out in the country. Danny poked his 

new wife in the side and pointed to their fathers, "He better not be convincing Dad to move out of the City," Danny said and Lindsay shook her head.

"Dad is just telling some of his 'famous' back in the day stories," she explained with a smile, "He's harmless."

They walked with their friends toward the table toward the back of room talking to the guests that had shown. Cara had managed to get to her brother and tugged on his jacket and he looked back at her. She looked a little frazzled but there was a smile on her face. She went and gave her big brother a huge hug.

"Congratulation, bro," Cara said and Danny hugged her.

"Thanks for finally showing up to the reception," Danny said and Cara gave him a glare,

"We took the long way, didn't realize that it would take that long," she paused and added, "Mom already gave me the lecture so please spare me," Danny laughed.

"I will, don't worry," he said and went to join Lindsay at the long table and Cara went to save her friend from Flack's humor.

The party went on as people began talking and dancing on the dance floor. The Messer's and Monroe's were getting along well and people were already giving requests to the band that was playing by the dance floor. People were getting food and eating and laughing as Cara and Kristin entertained some family members with their jokes and bugging one another. The band stopped playing and the lead singer stepped up to the mike.

"From what I am told, the best man has a few words to say to the new wife and husband, Don Flack," he paused and pulled the mike out of the stand and handed the microphone to Flack who thanked the band leader and smiled.

"Why, thank you very much. Well… I knew that I would be having to make a speech at some point or another." He paused and looked at his two friends, "When Monroe, or should I say Messer, first arrived, Danny did everything except pull her pigtails. Monroe was tough though. From what I could tell, she didn't fall for Danny's flirting tactics or his lame pickup lines. I personally think Danny fell for Lindsay before Lindsay decided he was harmless. I watched them learn to get along with one another and become a great team together. The bantering and flirting, they thought they could hide it, but Hawkes was the first to get the inquiring and if you know us at the crime lab, a pot was immediately started and Mac won that one," Flack paused as some people laughed while Cara clapped for Mac.

"Alright, now it's time for me to be serious. You two are, perfect for each other and you both have been to hell and back too many times for me to count. You two are perfect for one another, willing to wait for one another and Lindsay, you definitely are in love when Messer begins acting like a jerk and you wait for him to get his head screwed on right. I cannot say it enough how well you work for one another, I hope for the best for both of you. You both deserve it," Flack finished his speech to applause and both Lindsay and Danny got up to give him a hug.



Cara bounded up and grabbed the microphone, "Thanks Flack," she said and headed back up to were the band was standing.

"So, I came up with the idea to sing a song…" she paused as Danny laughed, "Be quiet, Danny," she said and continued, "Well… after hours of fishing around my CD collection and actually looking at 80's songs, I think I found one and I would like the new couple to come up and dance to it. I know they would both approve," she said and Danny and Lindsay exchanged looks as they walked up to the dance floor. Danny looked at his sister.

"You know, the song you picked probably wasn't the one we wanted for the first dance," he said and Cara shrugged.

"We'll call this unofficial," she stated as she quietly whispered the name of the song to the band and they nodded and the soft music began playing as Danny and Lindsay began to dance.

_There's a place in your heart nobodies been, take me there. Things nobody knows, not even your friends… take me there._

Lindsay was laughing against Danny's chest when the song started up. Danny looked down at her, "What? My sister's singing really that bad?"

Lindsay shook her head, "No, she had a very nice voice, just this is the first song we dance too, remember?"

Danny shook his head, "No, don't remember," he said and Lindsay laughed again.

"Remember, Sullivan's after that really hard case. Someone turned on the jukebox and that song was the first one that was playing on the jukebox,"

_I want to know, everything about you and I want to know every road you've been…_

Danny nodded, remembering that dance and how Flack would not stop making fun of him for a whole week until Danny told Flack that he and Lindsay were dating. Danny smiled and both him and Lindsay danced closer together as the song continued. It ended with an applause and Cara giving Danny and Lindsay a huge hug.

"Thank you and how did you know?" Lindsay asked and Cara smiled.

"I have my ways," Cara said and Danny rolled his eyes.

"Flack," he mumbled causing the two woman to laugh.

The rest of the night was spent dancing, eating and celebrating.

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**Song sound familiar? It's _Take Me There_ by Rascal Flatts. Hope you enjoyed! :D**


	33. June 24, 2009

**In light of recent events, you can rely on that this will be a NO D/L ANGST story. Nope, we've had enough. And we are also going to forget that Danny 'cheating' will be ignored as so it never happened. I'm assuming this is alright with all of you because I am in need of some happy D/L things... even if it is in my imagination. Now, since the ranting is done, hpe you enjoy and please review so I know you guys are enjoyin' this. :D**

**All mistakes are mine. **

**Disclaimer: I own Cara, a I Love NY lanyard and a CSI:NY hat. **

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Diary Entry

June 24, 2009

Mood: Packing… and wondering what was going through my brain when I said yes to Kristin…

So, I'm sitting at my desk, a luggage on my bed and I am wondering why the hell I said yes to Kristin to go to Long Beach with her for a week and a half. This should be interesting. I haven't been out of the state… ever. This should be pretty interesting when I go down there. At least I'll have Kristin to keep me in line. Mom's worried about me and Dad is just telling mom that she needs to learn that I have to grow. Oh well.

Today is the charity baseball game. I've been roped into helping out Flack with 'managing' and selling t-shirts. Wahoo, community service. Can you hear my excitement? Cause if you do, than please go somewhere to check your mind. I have to admit though, this should be fun and interesting. From what I know, the police and fire guys have been going at it since the FD 'cheated' at the last game. I'm not sure whether Danny is lying or not, but whatever. I just nod my head and agree whenever Danny goes on one of his rants. Whatever. Alright, I've got to get going before I start getting stalker like phone calls from Flack. That's kind of scary when he starts calling ever 5 minutes. Trust me, make sure you don't have a detective making stalker phone calls to ya.

So… you'll love this. Danny and Lindsay went on a cruise to Alaska (why Alaska, I have no idea…) and I was told they had a great time there. I can tell from the pictures. Well, when coming home from the cruise, they got stranded in Seattle. It was fantastic and a perfect opportunity for me to make fun of Danny. Lindsay, I was totally cool about because this is Lindsay. But Danny, I bet he went crazy over there. Kristin tells me that Seattle is tiny compared to NYC, so I could not help but laugh at my brother. And make fun of him. Life is good when you can make fun of your brother and not have to worry about him throwing you into the Hudson.

_CSI:NYCSI:NYCSI:NY_

Cara shifted her small backpack more comfortably on her shoulder as she hurried to the baseball field were people, mainly the players, getting this jerseys and hats out and pulling them on. Cara ran up to the outside of a group craning her neck to find someone who could tell her what she was doing. Flack was standing in the middle of the circle, his hands raised to quiet the group.

"So, this game is very important. We are going against the Fire Department not only for charity, but for our dignity," Flack said and Cara rolled her eyes.

"And Flack's ego!" she called out and Flack rolled his eyes and decided to play along.

"That too," Flack said quietly causing the group to laugh, "Alright, get out there and warm up," Flack said and the group headed out to the field and Flack walked up to Cara.

"You feel like playing unofficial manager and selling t-shirts?" Flack asked and Cara nodded.

"Mac already told me," Cara said pointing to the Crime Lab boss who was warming up with Hawkes.

Flack's face fell and he frowned, "Alright, here," he shoved a jersey into Cara's hands, "I've got to go warm up," he said and ran off. Cara rolled her eyes and pulled the shirt over her head and walked over to a small table behind the backstop where t-shirts were laid out and a box of money on the table. She opened the box, made an estimate of how much change was in the box and sat down in the steel chair that had grown hot from sitting in the sun.

Several minutes later she heard someone sit down next to her and sigh. She gave a side glance and raised an eyebrow.

"And you are?" she asked the teenage boy that had sat down next to her.

The boy looked up at her, "Sorry, names Blake," he held out his hand to Cara, "You?"

"Cara. FD or PD?" Cara asked and Blake laughed.

"I have to be FD. My dad and older brother both are fire fighters at the 23rd Station," Black explained and Cara nodded.

"Hopefully we won't get into fights. I'm PD. Brother works for the crime lab," Cara said and it was Blake's turn to nod.

"Don't worry, I'm only on till the game starts. Than I'm in the dugout," he said and Cara nodded.

"Same. One of the guys told me I was the unofficial manager," Cara said and Blake laughed.

"I can see on your shirt," Blake said tugging at her shirt a little. Cara shot him a glare.

"Hands to yourself, boy scout," Cara said turning her attention to a customer who had shown up with a little girl who was pulling at one of the small shirts sitting at the edge of the table. As the time past, more people arrived and Blake and Cara continued talking and entertaining themselves whenever business got slow.

20 minutes later, the sound of the baseball making contact with the ball could be heard all across the park and the cheers came up from the stands, encouraging the runner. Cara was standing in the dugout with Mac as the outfielders chucked the ball back infield where the runner was tagged out at second by a rookie cop. Cara clapped along with the baseball side as the rookie looked up in surprised and smiled at the realization that he had just helped the PD team get their first out.

"Whose the catcher?" Cara asked looking over at the crouched over figure who was now communicating with the pitcher.

"Angell," Mac stated and Cara let out a laugh.

"Really? I never knew Angell played ball," Cara said and Mac agreed.

"No one did until we found her name on the list," Mac explained.

After the inning, the team came running in and Danny pushed Cara out to one of the boxes by 1st base.

"You want me to be a 1st base coach?" Cara asked as she turned toward Danny who nodded, "Do you remember two years ago?" she asked and he again nodded.

"You did fine, now go!" Danny said and Cara scurried over to 1st base and crossed her arms as she glared at Danny, though he couldn't see it.

"You do base coach?" came Blake's voice from behind her. She turned and raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah…" Cara said feeling a little confused on why Blake sounded so surprised.

Blake shrugged, "Just never imagined you being so into baseball," he said and Cara shook her head.

"Both of my brothers were into baseball. Grew up on it," Cara said and she turned her back to Blake with the roll of her eyes. She looked over at Mac who was shoving a baseball hat on his head. Mac signaled to Cara and it took her a couple of seconds to remember the cues that Danny taught her the week before. She signaled back to Mac and he nodded.

Cara shoved the hat back further over her eyes and looked around the stands. The portion of lab that had not signed up to play in the game was sitting behind the PD dugout. Officer Kensie walked up to home plate and tapped his helmet down farther on his head as he took a couple of practice swings with the bat. The pitcher threw the ball to Officer Kensie who made a connection with it and the ball went flying into outfield. Cara watched the ball fly out by 1st base and she signaled to Kensie to stop at 1st. He did and the PD crowd cheered, one man on base.

Hawkes was up next. "Let's go Hawkes!" Cara yelled and he kept his focus. The first pitch was a strike and Cara looked over at Mac, who quickly signaled something to her. She nodded and turned her attention to Flack who also signaled.

There was another pitch which Hawkes made contact with, but it was a foul ball. "Let's go, Hawkes! Hit it out of the park!" Adam yelled out from the stands.

Hawkes watched as the pitcher wound up and threw the ball and Hawkes let the ball fly past him. Ball 1. Cara rubbed her hands quickly together as she watched the catcher throw the ball back to the pitcher and Hawkes got ready for another pitch. The pitch was thrown and Hawkes hit the ball into the far left field. Cara told Hawkes to run to second base. Officer Kensie managed to get to third base and Hawkes stopped at second. The crowd cheered and Cara turned and gave Blake a look.

"Anything else?" she asked and Blake gave her a look back and shook his head.

At the end of the 2nd Inning, the PD was up 2-1 and Flack was praising the team for keeping them in the lead.

"Congrats you guys, we are keeping them off! Keep it up!" he yelled as the team ran back on the field and Cara and Mac exchanged looks.

"He really gets into this, doesn't he?" Cara asked and Mac nodded.

"That is why I keep my mouth shut when he gets into coaching mode,"

"Really? Detective Mac Taylor keeping his mouth shut? That's the first," Cara said and Mac playfully pushed at her shoulder. Cara gave him a 'what' face and he rolled his eyes, turning his attention back to the game.

The crack of a bat making a connection with the ball caused the FD side of the stands to their feet and the ball went into the far corner of left field. Cara slapped her forehead when two of the firefighters crossed home plate. Flack did not look to happy about the fact that they were down one in the third inning. Mac sighed.

"Great, now Flack is going to be in a terrible mood," Cara said and Mac nodded taking his hat off his head and running his hand through his hair.

"Who's going to ring him in?" Mac asked.

"You, duh," Cara said with a smiled and Mac smirked.

"Fine, fine, fine," he mumbled and they turned their attention to the last play which ended the top of the inning.

The PD team jogged back in with a disappointed looking Flack bring up the rear. Cara sighed, "Flack, everything will turn out fine. You have 4 more innings," Cara said and Flack ignored her.

"You are one stubborn man," Cara said following him back into the dugout where Danny was grabbing a bat and helmet and took a quick drink from his water bottle.

"Hit a homerun," Cara whispered and Danny shrugged.

"Car, I haven't swung a baseball bat in over 6 months. Last time I hit some baseballs was when you dragged me out of the house for the day," Danny said and all Cara did was give a little shrug and walk towards the other exit of the dugout and headed to first base. Danny watched her go and his saw a boy around Cara's age eyeing her. His eyes narrowed and Angell walked over to him and pushed him out of the dugout.

"You're up, Messer," Angell said and Danny sighed. He made a couple of practice swings with his bat and stepped up to the plate, watching the pitcher. The first pitch was thrown and was called a ball by the umpire. Danny stepped back, looked over at Cara who gave him the thumbs up and he returned his attention back to the pitcher. The pitcher threw another ball and Danny hit a foul ball. Frowning, he stepped back again, took a couple of swings and stepped back to the plate.

The pitcher concentrated on what the catcher was telling him and Danny watched, waiting for the pitch. The pitch came and he connected with the ball and it went flying. He immediately dropped the bat and ran to first and Cara gave him the signal to keep going.

Danny rounded first and headed to second and Mac waved him through. It was just then he realized he had hit a homerun and slowed his running down a bit and jumped on the home plate.

Cara was jumping up and down, yelling and clapping when her brother finally made it to home. Blake was standing up with the rest of the FD team and gave her a look.

"Congrats, Cara," he said and Cara shrugged.

"That's my brother," she said with a smile and continued clapping.

The game was tied 3-3 and now it was the bottom of the 6th inning. The game would only be 7 innings and the PD team was beginning to get a little nervous about the whole thing. They wanted to beat the Fire Department and Flack knew that they needed to score at least one more run.

Flack looked at the team who was now sitting on the bench. Cara looked at them and than at Flack.

"Hey Flack, why don't you have Angell hit," Cara suggested looking at Angell and than at Flack. Flack gave Cara a look.

"Really?" Flack asked looking at Cara and than Angell, "Why?"

"Cause, Angell can get herself on base and than bring up a big hitter for either a homerun or fly ball to the center field or get a couple more people on base," Cara explained and Flack's jaw dropped at the amount of information she knew and her strategy, "What? I know baseball," she said.

Flack paused for a moment and nodded, "Alright, Angell, your up," Flack said and Angell jumped up, grabbed a helmet and bat and headed out of the dugout. Cara followed her, "Go kick some ass," she mumbled and Angell smiled.

"Of course. I plan to make sure these boys know who they are dealing with," Angell said and they gave each other high fives and Cara jogged over to where she hung out for first base coach. Cara rested her hands on her knees and watched as Angell stepped up to the plate.

Strike 1.

2.

Ball 1.

2.

Foul.

Cara stood up and stretched her back as she waited for the next pitch. Angell hit it into the gap and managed to get to first base.

"Nice job," Cara said with a smile and Angell nodded.

"Yup, showed those guys up," she said with a sly smirk and Cara laughed. Officer Jackson came up to plate and Cara cocked her head.

"How come Flack is putting him up?" Cara asked.

"He's a big hitter. Played collage ball before he entered the Academy," Angell explained and Cara nodded.

"Now that makes sense," Cara said.

On the first pitch, Officer Jackson hit the ball out behind the center fielder and both Angell and Officer Jackson took off to third and second base. Angell managed to get to third base and Officer Jackson did a slider to make sure he wasn't tagged out. Cara did a quick nod, glad that both of them had gotten on base.

Flack was standing near the fence of the dugout and did a quick sign to Cara and the new batter who was making their way up to the plate. Cara gave Flack a look and signed that he was crazy. Flack resisted flipping her the bird, but he slowly turned away and rubbed his hands together looking down at the group of officers that sat on the bench, waiting for the next few minutes to be over.

Flack looked at the group, "Don't look so upset guys. We're going to beat them. Have trust in the Taylor."

Mac Taylor was standing at home plate, taking a couple of practice swings and Cara was shaking her head. This was definitely the first in her book. Mac Taylor, playing baseball. This was going to be interesting.

The PD side of the field was quiet as Mac waited for the first pitch to come. Cara watched as the pitcher got ready for the first pitch. The ball went soaring past Mac and he watched it as it landed in the glove of the catcher. Back at the dugout, Flack hid his face in his hands.

"Crap…"

Cara shifted uncomfortably in her place and watched as Mac stepped back a little and than returned to his place. There was another pitch and Mac made contact with this one, but it turned out to be a foul ball. Cara bit her lip as she watched the ball get thrown back to the pitcher. Several minutes later, the pitcher was winding up the pitch and threw it hard. Mac swung the bat and the ball went flying into the gap in the outfield. Cara singled to Mac to keep going and Mac rounded first base as Angell and Officer Jackson headed to home plate. Mac continued running as the shortstop dropped the throw allowing Mac to keep running. The stands for the PD were on their feet as Mac ran to home plate and slid and the umpire declared him safe.

One inning later, the Police Department was celebrating their win against the Fire Department. Everyone was on the field, congratulating one another and Blake walked over to Cara.

"Good job, you guys did well." Blake said and Cara shrugged.

"We try." she said and Blake laughed.

"Hey, I was wondering if I could get your phone number. We could… you know, hang out one day?" he asked and Cara shrugged.

"Oh, why not." she said and gave him her phone number as he gave her his. They bid one another goodbye and Cara walked over to Danny who shook his head.

"I don't like him." he stated and Cara laughed.

"The only reason you don't like him is because he's a boy. You hate the idea that I'm lookin'." she said with a smile and Lindsay nodded.

"Got that right."

* * *

**Hope you all enjoyed :D**


	34. July 4, 2009

**Alright, I'm back! Sorry it took so long, just school and a lack of muse can be a pain in the arse. Thank you to all who reviewed because I finally reached 100 reviews! Thank you so much. Oh well, all good. Please enjoy this next edition of "Brother and Sister."**

* * *

Diary Entry

July 4, 2009

Mood: Happy July 4th peeps!

It's the Happy Fourth of July! Exciting? I think yes! I've always liked Fourth of July. Some of the best memories of my life. Like the one time when I was 12 Louie had one too many beers (by 'accident') and set off about 12 loud fireworks off at the same time. May I remind you that fireworks are illegal in New York State… so his ass was hauled off to jail where we got a phone call from Danny asking what Louie did this time. Dad was laughing too hard so I had to explain it to Danny.

So, you know that I'm going to Long Beach, but I'm going at the beginning of August and I'm already packing… hmm… strange. I should not be packing, but I am. Not like anything is in the suitcase now. Just a bunch of random things I probably won't need. Oh well, what else is new with my life? Absolutely nothing. Fantastic.

So, I think me and Sam are going to hang out for July 4th. Danny wants me to come over and watch the fireworks with him, Lindsay, and Flack. I'm not positive if I want to go. The firework show at the harbor is always pretty cool and it would be nice to go. I don't know, maybe, maybe not. Though Danny and I have always tried to get together on three holidays, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and July 4th. Oh… what the hell. I'll go.

_CSI:NYCSI:NYCSI:NY_

"Wanna apple?" Cara asked looking out from the refrigerator holding up an apple for Sam to see. She held out her hands.

"What the heck." she said and Cara tossed her the apple which she easily caught. Cara grabbed herself one and closed the refrigerator door and leaned against it.

"We doing anything special today? Or just chillin'?" Sam asked taking a bite of the apple. Cara just shrugged.

"Danny wants me to go with him, Lindsay, and Flack to the fireworks display." Cara shrugged, "You can tag along if you like." she said and Sam nodded.

"Should be fun, won't be awkward, right?" Sam asked taking another bite.

"Hopefully not. But Danny has a gift of making any situation awkward for anyone." Cara said.

Sam laughed, "Sounds like my dad."

"I hate men." Cara grumbled as she took a bite out of the apple and the two headed out of the kitchen and to the sidewalk outside the house.

"Have you heard from Andrew?" Sam asked as they headed down to the harbor and Cara threw her apple core into a pack of bushes near a park.

Cara shook her head, "Not a peep since the letter. To be honest, I'm better off with him." Cara explained and than she turned to her friend, "Why the sudden interest?"

"Well… he called me a couple of days ago." Sam said picking at the apple's skin. Cara raised an eyebrow.

"Why?"

Sam shrugged, "Said he was coming down to visit. Wanted to know if he could talk with you."

"And he didn't bother calling me?" Cara asked crossing her arms as the two continued walking.

"Guess not." Sam said and the two walked up to a ticket booth and paid for two tickets on the Taxi Boat.

"Well… if he calls you again tell him kindly that I will not be meeting up with him and do not want anything to do with him. If he doesn't have the decency to call me and ask me himself, why the hell am I obligated to see him." Cara said and Sam smiled.

"Well said." Sam said as they boarded the Taxi and walked past several families trying to control their children into behaving themselves. Sam looked at the children and gave them a smile and a little girl enthusiastically waved at her.

Cara pulled Sam away, "Will you make sure we don't get attacked by little children again? Remember last time?" Cara asked and Sam nodded.

"Not my fault children like me."

"Yes it is."

"No."

The yes and no argument continued most of the way to Manhattan but was stopped when one of the workers on the boat came over and told them they had received complaints about their behavior.

"Sorry, sir. Just…"

The worker held up his hand and Sam stopped explaining. "Just please, shut up." the worker said and walked away from the pair. They exchanged glances and Cara stifled a laugh.

"Well… doesn't he have some problems he needs to sort out." Cara said and Sam nodded in agreement.

An hour later, Cara and Sam found Flack and Lindsay outside the lab. Lindsay was adjusting her purse on her shoulder as Flack looked down at his cell phone before snapping it shut again. Cara pulled Sam behind her as they walked up to the two.

"Hey guys." Cara said as she stopped in front of them and frowned, "Um… where's Danny?" she asked and Lindsay looked over at Flack.

"He's running something for my case, though he's off today." Flack said as he crossed his arms and Lindsay shook her head.

"I told you not to call him. But you wouldn't listen to me." Lindsay said and Flack shot Lindsay a look.

"It's good I like you." he mumbled as he crossed his arms and looked behind him at the front doors of the lab.

Five minutes later, Flack shook his head and looked at the two teenagers, "Why don't you guys go ahead and we'll find you." Flack sand and Cara and Sam set off down to the pier.

Flack and Lindsay stood outside the lab for almost 10 minutes when Danny finally reappeared and jogged over to them.

"Sorry, that name you wanted me to run, Flack, it turned out to be a hit and Mac got excited and he wanted me to come with him to arrest him. Took me 10 minutes to convince him to let me enjoy my day off." he said and Flack rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. We already sent your sister and her little friend down to the pier. Hopefully they'll grab a good spot on the hill." Flack said as the three began walking down the street.

"Cara knows where to go. She'll get a good spot." Danny said and they continued down the crowded streets of the city.

20 minutes later, the group found Cara and Sam sitting near the top of a grassy hill, talking. The walked up and Danny plopped down next to his sister and laid down. Lindsay sat down next to him and Cara stared at her brother for a little bit. Danny opened one of his eyes.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing, just you worked two hours and you are completely exhausted. Hmm… maybe you should start taking Centrum Silver." Cara said.

"Don't joke about those things, it's not funny." Danny said closing his eyes again. Cara shook her head as Sam pulled out her iPod and offered an ear bud to Cara, which she took and stuck it in her ear. Flack and Lindsay talked for a little bit until Danny sat up again and asked Flack if he saw the Mets game the other night. Flack and Danny soon got into a deep debate about the manger's choices leaving Lindsay to watch the people passing by as many of them looked for a place to set up camp for the fireworks.

An hour and a half later, Cara turned toward the three adults and asked, "You want something to eat." She smirked at Flack, "I know how much you love those street vendors."

Flack shook his head, "I'm good. Ate a big lunch." he said and Cara shook her head as she stood up and stretched.

"Alright, we'll be back in a few." Cara said and she and Sam walked down the hill.

10 minutes later, they were paying a street vender for their hotdogs and slowly walking back to where they were sitting on the hill. Sam was telling Cara about the latest gossip that Cara has missed out.

"Haven't I told you that I'm not really interested?" Cara asked as Sam finished one of her stories.

Sam paused and smiled, "You know you're interested." she said with a little smirk and Cara sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, keep going." Cara said quietly and Sam beamed as she started on another story that she had heard. They stopped at the bottom of the hill and leaned against the pier's fence. Cara listened to Sam chatter away and she soon heard her name being called out.

"Cara!"

Sam stopped talking and both girls turned to where the voice was coming from and Cara frowned.

"Maybe if we don't say anything, he'll walk right past us." Cara said as she turned her attention back to her hotdog.

Sam nodded and than sighed, "Too late." she mumbled as none other than Andrew walked up to them.

"Hey." he said stopping next to them and smiling.

Cara didn't answer, just took a bite of her hotdog and didn't bother acknowledging Andrew's presence. There was silence for a brief moment before Andrew spoke up.

"So, Cara… I haven't heard from you in awhile. I was expecting you to call me." Andrew said looking down at the ground before looking to see Cara's shocked face.

"Excuse me? And this is coming from the guy who decided to break up with me through a damn letter instead of telling me face to face." Cara said crushing the paper that held her now finished hotdog.

"Oh… come on Car-"

"Car. Oh no you don't. Andrew will you please go away and leave me alone. Alright? I really don't want to deal with you."

"Cara…" Andrew said now following the two girls as they headed up the hill.

"Andrew, go away, now." Cara said turning around and facing him.

"You were supposed to call me." Andrew said and Cara laughed.

"Why the _hell_ would I call you? I have absolutely no reason to call you. Alright?" Cara said and Sam and Cara kept walking but Andrew was not going to give up. He kept following them as they made their way up the hill. Danny and Lindsay were in a deep talk, but Flack on the other hand was closely watching the 

interaction between the three teenagers. Andrew continued following them and Flack watched as Cara turned around again to say something to Andrew, but Andrew seemed very persistence. Flack looked over at Danny and Lindsay who where still in their deep conversation. He stood up and made his way over to Cara and Sam, who where now in a deep argument.

"Need some help, Cara?" he asked and Cara and Sam turned around to face him.

Cara shook her head, "No, unless you can make an annoying jerk disappear."

Andrew gave her a look and made an advance on Cara, but Flack stepped in between the two.

"Cara, Sam." Flack looked behind him at the two who nodded and headed off to where Danny and Lindsay were sitting. Flack gave Andrew a look and made sure Andrew saw the badge that Flack was wearing on his jeans. Andrew eyed the badge, looked up at Flack and turned on his heel and left the area. Flack watched him go and he turned and sat down next to Danny who looked at him.

"What was that about?" Danny asked.

Flack shook his head and looked over at Cara who shrugged and looked out toward the water, "Nothing, Dan."

Danny nodded, "Alrighty then, let's get this party started." Danny said rubbing his hands together. Cara looked at her brother.

"Danny, please don't start singing." Cara asked and Danny smirked.

"Messer…" Flack warned him and Danny began singing 'Yankee Doodle Dandy.'

Sam covered her ears, Lindsay shook her head and Cara punched her brother in the shoulder, "SHUT UP!"

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**Hope you enjoy and if you did, please review.  
**


	35. July 10, 2009

Alright, here's a short chapter for you guys. This is the beginning of the final four chapters in the story. So, yeah. Hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I think we have a mutal understanding now.

All mistakes belong to me.

* * *

Danny stood in the middle of layout, his phone to his ear. He sighed when the phone went to straight to voice mail. He looked at his phone and snapped his phone shut shaking his head and pulling out some evidence to process. After he processed it, he pulled out his phone and shook his head as he saw no one had called him in the half hour he was busy. He was so into looking at his phone, he didn't notice Stella walking into the layout room and crossing her arms at the sight of Danny.

"Messer." she stated and his head shot up.

"What?" he asked looking at Stella as she held out her hand.

"Give it to me." she said and Danny looked very confused.

"What do you want?" he asked and Stella sighed.

"I want your phone." Stella said and Danny's mouth dropped open.

"Why…?" he asked and Stella grabbed the cell phone from his hand.

"It's driving me crazy and you need to concentrate on your work, not worry about your sister." Stella said pocketing the phone and grabbing a couple of fingerprints and scanning them into the computer.

"Oh come one, Stella. Don't take my phone away. I need to call her." Danny said and Stella didn't listen.

"You don't need to call her. She's 16 years old and is fine by herself. She doesn't need you checking up on her every 10 seconds." Stella said and Danny rolled his eyes as he pulled out another evidence bag and pulled out the evidence that he needed.

Danny paused, "Stella…."

"Shut up and do your work, Messer." Stella said as the fingerprints went through the database.

_CSINY:CSINY:CSINY_

Cara was sitting on the beach next to Kristin as they watched Kristin's little cousins playing in the shallow waves of the ocean. Cara kept putting her hands in the letting the sand fall through the cracks in her hand. Kristin looked over at her friend.

"You tired?" she asked and Cara nodded.

"Yeah… not used to being suddenly thrown into an area three hours behind what I'm used too." Cara said lying back on the sand. "But the weather's good here. It's not to humid." she added.

Kristin shrugged, "But they have forest fires here."

Cara paused and frowned in concentration, "True." she said after a few seconds of thinking. Kristin looked up and rolled her eyes.

"Didn't mom tell you no underwater?!" Kristin called out to her cousins who looked up and tried to look innocent. Cara looked over at Kristin who sighed, "I hate little children." she mumbled.

"You have a little sister." Cara reminded her and Kristin just shrugged.

"Yeah, but she's cool." Kristin said and Cara rolled her eyes.

The two sat in silence for a while before Cara sat up and looked over at Kristin.

"I forgot my journal at home." Cara said feeling a sudden panic.

Kristin seemed not to understand, "Just get a new one." Kristin said and Cara rolled her eyes and crossed her arms across her chest.

"No, you don't understand. That is my sacred journal and I can't just go and get a new one!" Cara quickly explained to Kristin who still didn't understand the whole panic of the situation.

"Than you won't write for a week." Kristin said and Cara sighed.

""Oh come on, this is my journal I vent to." Cara paused and frowned, "I can't just go a week without writing in it."

Cara got the feeling that Kristin still didn't understand the bad part about forgetting the journal, but after Kristin and her got a bucket full of water on top of their heads, Cara quickly forgot about the missing journal and headed off to get her revenge at Kristin's youngest cousin.

Several days later, Cara was sitting at one of the small tables in the beach house, scrolling through her TXT messages from her friends. It was around 4 in the morning and it had been the third night in a row that she had woken up early in the morning from a dream she had. She set her phone down and got up to get a glass of milk and as she sat down, her phone began ringing softly. She picked it up and not looking at the caller ID, answered it.

"Hello."

"Hey Cara, how've you been?" Came Danny voice over the phone. Cara smiled.

"Well… it's four in the morning here and I'm awake, drinkin' milk." Cara said looking at her glass of milk sitting in front of her.

There was a pause on the other side of the phone and sighed, "What time is it there?" he asked and Cara rolled her eyes.

"It's 4:15." Cara said glancing quickly at the clock.

"Oh, you guys are three hours behind, aren't ya?" Danny said and Cara nodded.

"Yeah, we are."

"So, how are you enjoying Long Beach?" Danny asked and Cara could hear the shuffling of papers in the background.

"It's pretty good. I'm enjoying it. The only thing that pisses me off is that I forgot my journal at home. And I haven't been sleeping." Cara explained to her brother who sighed.

"No sleeping. Join the club." Danny said and Cara laughed.

"You work. I just hang out in the sun all day and get a _tan_." Cara said and emphasized the word tan.

"When have you ever cared about getting a tan?" Danny asked.

"Oh, never to be honest. It's just fun to make you think I do." Cara said taking a sip of her milk.

Cara could hear Danny sigh on the other side of the line, "You have way to much time on your hands."

"And, your point is…?" Cara asked raising an eyebrow at no one. Danny didn't answer and Cara immediately knew that he was rolling his eyes and shrugging.

"Alright, I've got to go and find Adam." Danny said and more shuffling of paper where heard, "Going to be a fun day."

"Alright, you go enjoy yourself and don't have to much fun." Cara said pushing her now empty glass of milk away from her and crossed her arms.

"Alright, I'll see ya later munch." Danny said causing Cara to smile.

"Arrivederci." Cara said before snapping her phone shut and leaning back in the chair. Frowning, she stood up, placed the glass in the sink and decided to see if she could get a couple more hours of sleep before they started their busy day.


	36. July 29, 2009

Alright, so... short chapter, very short. Sorry about that. Thanks to montana09 for helping me with this chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

All mistakes are mine.

* * *

Diary Entry

Date: July 29, 2009

Mood: Don't make me…

Why didn't I just say no? No is an easy word, right? Two letters long, shorter than the word, 'yes'… and easier to say. Also, is the one common word around the world people use; so when you walk around in some foreign country you have no idea of the language, you can just say, no. That last sentence makes no sense whatsoever and I'm writing this entry in pen. A pink pen. I'm going to kill my dad. Really, I am. He losses the last of the black pens and then steals my favorite blue one from my desk and forgets it at work. What the hell? WHY does he ALWAYS have to do that?

Alright, I need to stop ranting. Now and go. To… gah. Can I just go see a movie? Please?

_CSINYCSINYCSINY_

Cara checked her cell phone for the tenth time in less than a 10 minute span. He said he was going to be there at 2:20 and it was now 2:40. Crossing her arms, she leaned against the railings of the dock and watched people walk by. She decided to give it another 5 minutes and if he didn't show up; his loss. Just as she was going to leave, she heard someone run up and stop next to her.

"Hey."

Cara looked over at Blake and gave a small smile, "Was wondering when you were going to show up." she said and Blake shrugged.

"My mom was making me do a couple things before I left the house and it took longer than expected." Blake explained as they started walking. Cara bit her lip and fidgeted with her bag as the two walked along the pier. As the day wore on, Cara wished she was still home, though Blake was slowly growing on her. They ended up spending most of the day at the beach, talking and kicking a lost soccer ball until some angry looking 6 year old walked over to them, picked up the ball and with a flash of the tongue, walked off.

Cara looked out across the beach, out at the water giving off sparkles in the somewhat setting sun. "I should probably start heading home; Danny and Lindsay said they'd be over for dinner tonight." Blake nodded. "Why don't I walk ya home?" Cara said nothing in response, just turning around to find her slides. She brushed the sand off of them as Blake waited patiently for her. "Alrighty," Cara said as she followed Blake to the boardwalk.

"So ya ready to go back to school?" He asked, sticking his hands in his pocket. Cara shrugged. "Yeah, I mean, its senior year so it will be fun, but I am definitely not looking forward to the stress." Blake nodded. "True,"

Suddenly a pickup truck came barreling down the road. Blake stepped protectively to Cara's side, but Cara stopped and turned around, noticing that the car had slowed down as it drove nearer. "Andrew…" She whispered, confused. Blake studied the stranger as he parked the car and got out. "You know him?" Cara nodded slowly, anger filling up her head.

"Cara," Andrew began, giving a side glance at Blake. "So, found backup for your police officer friend?"

"Andrew, I really don't need-" Cara tried to explain with as much patience as she could sum up

"Shh, It's fine. I just wanted to say hi, but OBVIOUSLY you're busy." He sneered, and the glare that he gave Blake broke the threadbare rope of temperament. Blake stepped forward. "Try me," He said threatening. Andrew staggered forward to meet the challenge. "Beat it, fag."

Cara stared blankly at them as they got into one another's faces.

"Alright, PLEASE stop." But the boys didn't notice, and Andrew raised his hand, swung, and made contact with Blake's jaw. "Goddamn," Cara swore, thinking if she should get involved or not. "STOP!" She yelled, after Blake had damaged Andrew up a little.

She pulled on Blake's arm as Andrew stumbled back, wiping the blood coming from his nose. Andrew just stood there, looking sadly at Cara and then turning around to get back in his car and drive off. Cara ended up dropping Blake off at his house. His jaw was beginning to show signs of being bruised, and Cara sighed as Blake tried to apologize, and then asking if she was available tomorrow evening.

"Listen, Blake, honestly that was really chivalrous of you, but," Cara took a deep breath. "I think I just want to stay friends alright?" Blake's gaze dropped, and he started to shuffle his feet. "Okay," He said reluctantly as Cara quietly said goodbye and left the porch.

_CSINYCSINYCSINY_

"Here, I'll help," Lindsay said, getting up and walking over to the kitchen sink where Cara was beginning to wash the dishes.

She nodded in thanks as Lindsay started stacking the plates. "What's wrong? You seem awfully quiet…"

Cara shrugged replying with one word. "Men."

Lindsay laughed. "What, Andrew find you again?" Cara nodded. "Along with Blake. And they got into it."

Lindsay set the plate down sharply. "What happened?" Cara shortened up the story, making it seem lamer than it already was. When she was done Lindsay gave a short laugh, and continued stacking the dishes.

"Well I agree with you on 'dumping' him." Cara nodded. "I honestly have just given up on men." Lindsay laughed.

"Just wait until college," Cara nodded again, feeling a little better now that she had said it out loud and she continued to dry the dishes.


	37. August 2, 2009

**So, just a note: This chapter is dedicated to anyone who lost someone close to them recently or in the past. My school has been going through a hard time because so many people have lost someone special and close in their lives and we also lost one of the coolest, most inspirational woman at the school. So, without futher adu, here's chapter 37. **

**Thanks to all who reviewed. :D**

**Disclaimer: I know, but I still have to put it in. **

**All mistakes belong to me. **

* * *

Danny nodded and snapped his phone shut, rolling his eyes. Lindsay looked up at him and cocked her head, "What's wrong?" she asked him and Danny shook his head.

"Cara's gone and her phone is off. Let's just say that my parents are slightly worried." Danny replied as he turned his attention back to the evidence that was lying in front of him. Lindsay frowned and continued to work on her evidence. She looked back up at her husband, who was now staring at the computer screen, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Why don't you go look for her?" Lindsay suggested to him and Danny looked over at her looking a little shocked.

"Huh?" he asked taking his glasses off and rubbing his eyes.

"Go look for her." Lindsay said again and Danny bit his lip and shrugged.

"I don't know…" Danny said looking at the computer screen and then back at Lindsay, "Should I?"

Lindsay shrugged, "I think you should." Lindsay said. Danny frowned and headed over to the door of the layout and shrugged off his lab coat.

"I'll cover you." Lindsay said and Danny nodded and smiled disappearing around the corner and headed toward the elevator.

_CSINYCSINYCSINY_

Cara hadn't been in a church in over a year. She took some blessed water and did the sign of the cross as she made her way to the front of the church. Cara could remember the arguments she had with her parents when she first decided not to attend church again. It was only after she told her parents the real reason why she made up her mind not to attend church where her parents supportive of her decision. What she didn't understand was why she was now standing in the middle of the church, her eyes staring up at the massive crucifix that stood behind the alter. When she saw the group of candles to the left of the alter, she suddenly remembered.

Cara headed over to candles and dropped a dollar into to basket before lighting one of the few remaining unlit candles. She blew the match out, dropped it in the small bowl that held several burnt matches and made her way back to the pews, sitting down in one of them.

She had a few minutes of silence to herself before she heard a door from the side of the church open and shut. When she looked up, Father Frank was standing at the alter, bowing and fixing the cloth that covered it. She frowned and sunk down in the pew, not wanting the father to see her. Father Frank smoothed out the final kinks in the cloth before turning to face the empty sanctuary and gave a small smile.

"Well, hello Cara. It's nice to see you again." he stated as he headed toward the first few pews. Cara smiled, but didn't say hello back.

"You want to talk, or did you come here for some reflection?" Father Frank asked. Cara shrugged and the father nodded.

"If you need anything, you know where to find me." he stated and he headed to the back of the church where his office was before Cara spoke up.

"How do you continue to follow God when he took away one of the most important people in your life?" Cara asked to the Father's back.

Father Frank stopped walked and turned to face Cara, "This is about Louie?" he asked and Cara nodded.

"Yeah. Year to the date that he died and…" Cara shook her head, "I just came to visit him."

Father Frank nodded and went to sit in the pew in front of her. "So, your question is how to keep on the path of God when you lose someone?" he asked her and Cara nodded.

"Yeah. I guess you could say that, but I'm just having a harder time with everything. School, soccer, life, friends." she paused, "Family."

"Family?" he asked and Cara nodded.

"Yeah… Haven't talked to my parents in over three weeks." she paused again, "Well… not a normal conversation."

"As in…?"

"Hey mom, today I went and hung out in Coney Island. That sort of thing." Cara said.

Father Frank nodded, "Have you been shutting everyone out because it's the anniversary of Louie's death?" he asked her and Cara nodded.

"I guess you could say that." Cara stated and crossed her arms across her body.

"Losing someone is the hardest thing that can happen, but Cara, you can be like your brother sometimes." Father Frank said.

"Who? Danny?" she asked and Father Frank nodded causing Cara to sigh.

"Fantastic."

"It's not a bad thing." The Father said and Cara looked up, "You just have a different way of handling things than most people do." He shifted in his seat.

"You made it sound like it was a bad thing." Cara said and the priest smiled.

"Well, it wasn't supposed to come out that way. I apologize."

"Don't worry about it."

Father Frank nodded, "Cara, there isn't any advice that I can give you that will fix everything. We lose people we love and sometimes there are no explanations. There may be medical explanations to what went wrong, but we never find out why. Why did God decide that it was time? It's just one of the questions that everyone has a hard time wrapping their minds around. Talking is one of many things that can help you heal and Cara you haven't healed. Though I haven't seen you in a year, I've known you long enough to know."

Cara nodded, "I just… I just wish there was something I could do."

"Everyone wishes there was something to fix the impossible." Father Frank said and Cara gave a small smile, relating to the statement that the father had just made.

"What could I do?" she asked just as the door opened to the church.

Father Frank looked at the back then looked at Cara, "Well, the first thing you can do is talk to Danny." he stated, mentioning to the back and Cara turned around to see Danny now walking down the aisle of the church.

"I think I'll go. Need to clean out the back room, haven't done that in years…" Father Frank stood up, gave a parting smile and walked toward the back of the church.

Cara didn't move when she heard Danny stop walking next to her pew. After several seconds of silence, Cara moved over a little, allowing her brother to take a seat next to Cara in the pew. They again sat in silence for a few minutes before he said;

"Your phone is off."

Cara nodded, "Yeah, turned it off for a reason." She stated.

Danny nodded, "But our parents have been calling me for the past hour asking me if I had seen you. It was interfering with my work."

Cara frowned, "Sorry."

There was more silence before Cara said, "How did you know I was here?"

Danny shrugged, "August 2nd. Anniversary of Louie's death."

"No wonder you're a CSI." she said and Danny smiled.

"Got that right."

They stayed silent for a while longer before Danny stood up and jerked his head toward the door in the back of the church, "I'll get you some lunch. And call Ma for ya so you don't have to listen to her lecture you until you get home."

Cara nodded, "Yeah, I'll take that offer." she stood up and Danny gave her a hug.

"We'll be alright, you know that?" Danny said and Cara nodded.

"I know. Just. He's gone."

"Yeah, it's been hard for all of us. He left me and I didn't get to apologize or make amends with him." Danny said.

Cara rested a hand on his shoulder, "He still loved ya." Cara said and Danny nodded.

"Come one, let's get some food." Danny said and they walked down the aisle before Cara stopped and said;

"Wait, you want to go visit him before we leave?" she asked and Danny shook his head.

"Already did. Come on, munk." He said swinging a arm over her shoulders as the two walked out of the church.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed. :)**


	38. Final

Guys... this is my final chapter of Brother and Sister. There will be an epilogue, but yes, this is the final one. Thanks to all who've stuck with me throughout this roller coaster, reviewed and a special thanks to Kris, who kept reminding me to finish the chapter or help me with writers block. Thanks to all!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

All mistakes belong to me.

* * *

"I've decided that you need to stop growing up." Danny said suddenly as both Danny and his little sister stood in the kitchen doing some part in helping their mother prepare dinner. Cara sighed and gave a sideways glance to her brother.

"You are the third person to tell me that." she said frowning and wiping off the surface where she was cutting the vegetables.

Danny cocked his head, "Um… who else?" he asked.

"Mom and dad." Cara said simply as she grabbed another carrot and began cutting it. Danny shrugged and then gave a small smile.

"I can see dad saying that too." he said sticking a bunch of cut up vegetables into a bowl and setting aside the knife and leaning up against the counter.

"I'd hope you know what he would say." Cara said as she finished cutting the carrot and dumping it into the bowl. The kitchen door opened to reveal Mariya and Nicolas carrying a couple bags of grocery.

"A little help would be nice." Mariya said and Cara hurried over to her mother and took a bag, sticking it on the table.

"When's Lindsay's coming?" Nicolas asked sticking the bags on the table and began putting away the groceries they had bought.

"After her shift," Danny said, "I'm meeting her at the Ferry docks."

Cara's ears perked up, "Can I come?" she asked both Danny and her mother at the same time. Danny looked at Mariya and shrugged, obviously not minding his little sister tagging along with him. Mariya looked at Cara and nodded, "Alright, I don't see a problem with it." she said.

Cara smiled, "Cool, thanks." she said turning her attention to the bags and began putting away the food and pretended to hide the tub of ice cream before her mother shooed her away from it and stuck her on trash duty.

20 minutes later, Danny and Cara left the house and headed down the empty streets to the ferry docks.

"And please explain to me why Lindsay is heading down here by herself?" Cara asked as they got closer to the docks.

"Because she was working and it was just easier for her to take ferry instead of taking two cars." Danny said as they stopped at the docks, waiting for the ferry to dock.

"You're going green on us, aren't ya?" she asked and Danny rolled his eyes.

"Sure." Danny mumbled causing Cara to smirk.

"Oh… admit it, you want to go green." Cara said and all Danny did was give her a look. They stood against the railings of the dock as Cara watched as a ferry slowly crept toward the docks and people and cars began to slowly make their way off the ferry. Danny stood up a little straighter as he kept his eyes open for Lindsay. Cara lifted herself up on the railing of the pier and watched everyone get off the ferry.

Lindsay came off the ferry and headed right for where Danny and Cara were at. She snuck up behind Danny and quickly wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Hey Danny. How's it going, Cara?" Lindsay greeted the two of them with a smile. It seemed to be the first time that Danny noticed that Cara was sitting up on the railing.

"Cara Vita Messer, get off the fricken railing before you kill yourself!" he said and all Cara did was smile and jumped off the railing. Danny shook his head and gave Lindsay a hug and a kiss, "Hey Lindsay."

Lindsay gave a smile and looked over at Cara. "So… you start senior year tomorrow?" Lindsay asked and Cara shrugged.

"I guess you could say yes." Cara said as the group headed back toward the Messer's home.

"No skipping out on senior year. Did that one too many times. Let's just say the principle hasn't forgiven me for that." Danny said and Lindsay shook his head while Cara seemed to smile in thought. Danny looked at his sister and shook his head, "Please do not skip school. If mom finds out I gave you that idea, I don't think I'll live through the night."

Cara snickered and the group headed back to the house. Cara ran up the porch and opened the door, "Mom! We're back!" she called into the house, quickly pulling off her shoes and heading toward the kitchen.

Danny shook his head as he opened to door for Lindsay, "Mom bought whipped cream and ice cream. Cara is a little excited." Danny explained as they both pulled off their shoes and headed toward the kitchen.

"Lindsay! It's so good to see you again!" Mariya exclaimed as both walked into the kitchen. The two women exchanged a hug and Lindsay also gave a hug to Nicolas.

"Cara, could you please set the table and bring out the vegetables?" Mariya asked and Cara nodded, quickly grabbing several plates and disappearing into dinning room to set the table.

The rest of the night was spent talking, eating and Danny hazing Cara about being a senior in high school. Cara ended up taking the whipped cream and putting some of it in his hair. This cause both Lindsay and Nicolas to burst into laughter, but Mariya wasn't too happy with Cara's actions.

"Alright… I think we will be going." Danny said about an hour later, "But, Cara… you wanna come outside and help me with something?" Danny asked and Cara shrugged, "Alright." she stated and followed her brother outside to the driveway.

"What's up?" Cara asked as she sat down next to Danny on the lawn.

Danny was fingering with one of the necklaces that hung around his neck before pulling it off his neck and handing it to Cara, "Thought you might want it." Danny said and Cara took it.

"Wait… these are Louie's dog tags. How did you get these?" Cara asked Danny looking down at the dog tags and reading the inscriptions on them.

"Dad gave them to me after Louie died." Danny explained and Cara nodded and frowned, "This one was definitely not on his necklace before."

Danny looked over and glanced at the other dog tag that hung off the chain. "Oh, that I've had forever and thought you might want it." Danny said. Cara separated the dog tag and read the inscription.

"When was this made?" Cara asked Danny.

"Couple of days after you where born. Dad ordered one for Louie and I after we where born and gave them to us when we entered our Senior Year of high school."

"Ah… a family tradition. And why haven't I heard about it?" Cara asked taking the chain and pulled it over her head.

"Because, when I got mine, you where still a baby. I don't think you would remember that." Danny said and Cara nodded;

"Good point."

Danny shook his head and sighed. Lindsay had made her way outside and was sticking the leftover food that Mariya had given her. Cara looked over, "Is mom afraid you guys are going to starve or what?" she asked.

"Apparently." Danny said shaking his head, "Alright," he gave his sister a side hug, "See you later. Love ya, munk."

"Bye Dan. See ya Lindsay." Cara said as they both got in the car, Lindsay waved and the car dove away. Cara played with the dog tags as she felt the sun go down. She looked down at the dog tag for the first time. The first one read:

_Louie Messer_

_April 12, 1970_

_Combattente della famiglia (Fighter of Family)_

Cara smirked and flipped to the second one and looked at it.

_Cara Vita Messer_

_October 17, 1991_

_Cuore di un combattente (Heart of a Fighter)_

* * *

Thanks to all.


	39. Epiloge

Brother and Sister is finally complete. I had a lot of fun with this story, and I hope all you out there reading it had fun reading along with Cara. Just to tell ya, I do have a prequal coming up in Danny's POV, and I'm liking out it's turning out. It should be up shortly if any of you are interested. Thanks to all who placed me on their alerts, reviewed, and took their time to read the story. I wouldn't have finished it if it weren't for all of you! Thanks so much!!

Disclaimer: I own nothing of CBS, but I do own Cara.

All mistakes belong to me.

* * *

_Epilogue _

_10 years later..._

Danny shook his head and knocked on the apartment door again.

"Danny, will you relax." Lindsay Messer said adjusting the toddler on her hip who whimpered out of exhaustion and hid her face in her mother's hair.

"I called her yesterday to tell her to be awake when we came. And she's not awake. Why is that?" Danny asked knocking again.

"Maybe because she's tired or because she had a date last night. Danny, relax. We don't have to be into work for another half hour. We've got plenty of time." Lindsay explained planting a kiss into her daughter's brown hair.

Danny crossed his arms and after a few minutes of not being very happy, pulled a key out of his pocket and unlocked the door.

"Danny…"

"Lindsay. I'm making sure she's still alive."

Lindsay shook her head as she followed her husband into the apartment and settled the 5 year old on the couch. She stirred.

"Mommy, where's Aunty Cara?" the little girl asked, gently rubbing her tired eyes.

"She's in her bedroom, Hannah, she'll be out soon." Lindsay quietly told her daughter as she pulled out Hannah's favorite stuffed animal and handed it to her.

Lindsay and Hannah sat in silence as Hannah played with her stuffed dog when they heard a loud yell.

"Danny Messer! Get out!"

Lindsay looked up to see Danny running out of his little sister's bedroom with a pillow flying behind him. Lindsay frowned as Danny threw the pillow back into the room and closed the door behind him. Danny looked at Lindsay and he gave an innocent smile.

"She'll be out in a minute." Danny said causing Lindsay to sighed.

Hannah looked behind her and smiled at her dad, "Daddy, you're silly." she said with a hug smile and hid her face behind her stuffed puppy. Danny laughed and sat down next to Hannah, poking her nose and sitting back in the sofa.

5 minutes later, Cara came out of the bedroom, pulling her hair into a ponytail. Hannah pushed herself off the couch and ran toward Cara, flinging her arms up and Cara picked her up and rested her on hip.

"Mornin', Aunty Cara!" Hannah said hugging Cara. Cara smiled.

"Good morning Miss Hannah. Hey Lindsay, how's Danny treatin' ya?" she asked heading toward the kitchen, grabbing a yogurt and handed it to Hannah who readily accepted it as Cara turned back.

"Fine, though he has decided that I should stay in the lab and doing nothing in the field." Lindsay said and Cara looked at Danny.

"Wow… how come you let her stay in the field longer when she was with Hannah than now?" Cara asked as Hannah spooned the yogurt into her mouth.

Danny looked at Lindsay and then at Cara and shrugged, "I'm being cautions."

"You're being overprotective." Lindsay said crossing her arms and shaking her head.

Danny opened his mouth to retort but Cara managed to get a work in first, "Don't you guys have to be at work in… 15 minutes?" Cara asked. The two of them looked at the clock and Lindsay nodded, "Yeah… we do."

Cara gave a small smile, "Then get going." she said.

Lindsay walked up to Hannah, kissed her on the forehead, saying goodbye. Danny did to, also thanking Cara for watching Hannah for them.

"Ah, it's the least I can do." Cara said as Hannah reached out for her father one last time. Danny gave her a quick hug and both Danny and Lindsay disappeared out of the apartment, letting the door close. The two stood in silence for a bit before Hannah spoke up.

"Is Uncle Ben here?" she asked and Cara nodded.

"Yes he is. But he's sleeping." Cara said.

Hannah frowned, "Why is he still sleeping?" she asked and Cara shrugged.

"I'm not to sure, why don't you go wake him up?" Cara said allowing Hannah to squirm from her arms and she ran to the bedroom. Cara smirked and followed Hannah into the bedroom to see her shaking the shoulder of Ben. Ben shifted and ruffled the hair of the 5 year old and then let it drop.

"Uncle Ben, it's time to wake up." Hannah said as Cara sat on the edge of the bed.

"Really now?" Ben asked opening one of his eyes and looking at Hannah, "And who told you it was time to wake up?"

"Aunty Cara!" Hannah said with a smile and Ben shot Cara a look.

"Huh. Funny Cara." Ben said. Cara shrugged and looked over at Hannah.

"Hey Hannah, why don't you go out to the living room and pick out a DVD for yourself and I'll be out in a second to put it in." Cara said and the little girl nodded and sprinted out of the room. Cara smirked and Ben glared at her, "You forgot to mention we were going to watch her today." he mumbled.

Cara shrugged, "Sorry. I thought I said something to you when you first came over."

Ben sighed, "I'll shower first, I guess." Cara nodded, gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and headed into the living room to find Hannah sitting on the couch a photo album on her lap, her feet gently bouncing off the edge of the couch as she looked at each picture.

"Aunty Cara? Is this you?" Hannah asked pointing to one of the pictures. Cara sat down next to her and looked at the picture and smiled.

"Yeah, it is. This was taken was I was 17." she said tapping the picture with a small smile.

"Whose he?" she asked pointing to the boy next to her and Cara smiled.

"An old friend. Why are you suddenly so interested in me as a little kid, and these pictures too?"Cara asked her little niece who just smiled.

"Story." she stated and Cara gave a small smile.

"Alright then, but promise not to tell you father I told you any of these." Cara said.

Hannah frowned, "Why?" she asked.

Cara smiled, "Well, he'll be in them and your father will not forgive me if I show you pictures of him younger."

Hannah smirked, "I promise."

Cara smiled, "Well… It all started at grandma and grandpa's house, your Uncle Louie, he was a clown, kind of like Uncle Flack…"

* * *

Again, thank you all. To clarify just in case...

Ben - Cara's boyfriend of several years

Hannah - 5 year old child of Danny and Lindsay. Had a short apperance in _Soundtrack of Life_.

Now, signing off

_-pineylife_


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